The Suzuka 8-Hours Has Been Moved to November 1st

The Suzuka 8-Hours is traditionally a summer race, held in the sweltering heat of Japan – it is part of what makes Suzuka, Suzuka.

That won’t be the case this year though, thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, but there is good news as the iconic endurance race will remain as the season finale for the FIM Endurance World Championship, just with a slight reshuffling of the racing calendar.

Accordingly, the new date for the 2020 Suzuka 8-Hours will be Sunday, November 1st – moved from the originally planned July 19th schedule.

The change comes about as getting into Japan has become quite difficult because of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, which makes it impossible for Suzuka to host the 8-hour endurance race in the summer.

“The global health crisis, the logistical constraints resulting from Japan’s entry restrictions and our priority to protect the health of everyone involved in the FIM EWC, have made it necessary to postpone the Suzuka 8 Hours,” said François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events/

“Praise is due to Mobilityland for adapting the Suzuka calendar to ensure that this major race in the championship remains Japan’s biggest celebration for motorcycling fans. To help teams with their logistics requirements in the opening phase of the 2020-2021 FIM EWC season, we will push back the date of the 8 Hours of Sepang to January if necessary, just ahead of the customary SBK/GP pre- tests on the circuit.”

Looking at the rest of the 2019-2020 season, there will be the 24 Heures Motos (August 29th & 30th) followed by the Bol d’Or (September 19th & 20th ), and then conclude with the FIM EWC grand finale at Suzuka (November 1st).