Pecco Bagnaia on Suzuka 8 Hours ‘dream’: “Maybe I will have to wait until I’m retired”
“I hope not, because I want to do it before, when I’m at my maximum”.
Francesco Bagnaia has said that he would like to compete at the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, but fears he will be waiting a while to do so.
Historically speaking, racing at Suzuka has been an impossibility for factory Ducati riders since the Italian manufacturer has rarely fielded a factory entry in the race.
However, Ducati provided official support to Team Kagayama — which also runs a Panigale V4 R in the All-Japan Road Racing Championship’s JSB1000 class — at this year’s race.
The Kagayama team, run by former BSB and World Superbike racer Yukio Kagayama, finished fourth at this year’s 8 Hours, being beaten to the final podium spot late on — perhaps ironically considering Kagayama’s previous racing affinities — by the Yoshimura SERT Suzuki team, which went on to be crowned 2024 Endurance World Champions at last month’s Bol d’Or.
Ducati’s increased Suzuka presence — combined with previous admissions from former Ducati Corse Sporting Director and current head of the Bologna brand’s off-road programme, Paolo Ciabatti, that Ducati has ambitions to win the Suzuka 8 Hours — bring forward the possibility of Ducati’s factory MotoGP riders taking part in the race.
With both the MotoGP calendar and EWC calendars for 2025 now published, the opportunity is theoretically there from next year, with no MotoGP race on the same weekend as Suzuka for the second year in succession.
“I thought about it, and maybe a race will be removed or postponed and I can’t go, but I don’t think they [Ducati] want me to go,” said Francesco Bagnaia on Friday at last weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix.
“It’s already a very tough season, 22 races — 44 races [in MotoGP] — but I would like [to go to Suzuka]. It’s one of my biggest dreams, I always dreamed about going to Suzuka and race there in the 8 Hours.”
Bagnaia’s current occupation in the MotoGP World Championship, and MotoGP’s increasingly long calendar, means that the Italian might be waiting a while before he can compete at Suzuka.
“Maybe I will have to wait until I’m retired,” he said. “I hope not, because I want to do it before, when I’m at my maximum, but let’s see.
“I will ask for it but it’s difficult right now. Next year, surely, will be difficult.”
