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2004 Suzuka 8 Hour Photo Gallery

Castrol Suzuki are contenders in the World Endurance championship - Giles suffered a major setback when Giles was hit from behind at the two hour mark and was thrown off.

2004 Suzuka 8 Hour - Check out the action in this MotorcycleUSA.com photo essay

Osamu Deguchi and Kenichi Kiyonari finished 16th on the Sakurai Honda CBR1000RR.

Tatsuya Yamaguchi and Kazuki Tokudome brought the Masked Rider Blade Honda home in fourth place.

Waturu Yoshikawa and Shinichi Nakatomi finished 23rd on the YSP Presto Yamaha R1.

Yukio Ikumi and Tamaki Serizawa failed miserably in their Suzuka 8 Hours effort.

Sebastien Scarnato of Phase One Endurance.

Castrol Suzuki, who trailed the series-leading Yamaha GMT-94 team coming to Suzuka by just two points, is now 26 behind.

The Seven Stars CBR of Gaku Kamata and Ryuichi Kiyonari crashed out early.

Kentz Motul Suzuki’s Keiichi Kitagawa and Katsuaki Fujiwara held third place behind the Yoshimura team until the seventh hour when their machine suffered a mechanical problem and was forced into the pits.

Tatsuya Yamaguchi rolls in for a pit stop with the masked Rider team.

Shinichi Ito made a token appearance in the last 30 minutes of what might well be his last 8 hour race much to the delight of his many fans.

'Everything was going well until Shawn was hit from behind,' Castrol Suzuki's Dominic Meliand said. 'He managed to get back to the pits but the damage was so great, it took us 40 minutes to fix it.'

'Last year, two Seven Star Hondas retired so we had to win this year,' said HRC's Koji Nakajima.

'I joined Honda to win the 8hr race so I am really happy today,' said Hitoyasu Izutsu.

Yamaha GMT94 extended their lead in the Endurance World Championship today, finishing as the top ‘permanent’ team in the Suzuka 8-Hour race.

Team Yoshimura Suzuki riders Atsushi Watanabe and Yukio Kagayama raced to second place at the Suzuka 8 Hour, giving Yoshimura company its first Suzuka 8 Hour podium in 16 years.

The Sakurai Honda squad in action during one of their many pit stops.

The GMT94 team's world endurance expertise showed through in the latter stages of the race as they worked their way through the field with each pit stop.

Tady Okada on the Runa Hanshin Tigers Honda CBR1000RR.

Runa Hanshin Tigers Sakurai Honda Team in action.

'I would like another opportunity to win the Suzuka 8 Hour and beat Honda at any cost!' said Yukio Kagayama.

Castrol Suzuki in action during the closing stages of the 8 Hour.

Watanabe and Kagayama brought their big Suzuki across the finish line just one lap behind the leading team after eight drama-packed hours in front of 70,000 spectators.

Tohru Ukawa takes his place atop the Suzuka podium for the fourth time in his career. His fourth Suzuka 8 Hour triumph a result that gave him an equal share of the record set by Australian Wayne Gardner over a decade ago.

Touhru Ukawa won his fourth Suzuka 8 Hour race in 2004 and will go for a fifth in 2005.