Yesterday, I was on a bus just outside the Suzuka Circuit when I got the word that Ben Young had just crashed in the final, early Sunday morning session for the 47th Annual Coca-Cola World Endurance Championship round. Others had crashed too in the damp to rainy conditions, at a time when you would expect people to be careful, since the race was hours away and you have teammates to consider.
Young’s incident in turn eight, the Dunlop curve, came due to standing water on the track; maybe a puddle that suddenly expanded or drainage the reached a “fill up” point. Regardless, this is a high speed, spooky place to part company with a Honda Superbike.
Young was an exiting passenger when the crash started, caused by aquaplaning in fourth gear. These conditions lead to concerns for track conditions for the planned Lemans start, and at one point it seemed the race was going to roll off at 11:30 am behind the Acura Safety car.
This would have spoiled the very structured Suzuka activities, and in the end, they had their in-line, run to the bike start even as the conditions turned more miserable. Given some of the spectators had endured Saturday’s sketchy conditions with no Top Ten shoot out to set the front of the grid, it was good that those braving the elements (including the racers) got the start of the show everyone desires.
Ben didn’t get his prestigious starting slot due to the changing weather, but that lead to him “batting clean up,” finishing the race with an additional stop. This proved that Young’s injuries were not too severe, but he is probably a bit uncomfortable on the trip home! However, the chance to ride to the finish in the dark (even behind the Safety Car) with the fireworks and pageantry was a big deal, and Young got the most out of it.
My report from the event focused on the actual race itself, so Ben’s early fall got short shift. Nonetheless, it was a big one, and he was lucky to walk away after sliding past the soft barriers into a portion of unprotected wall.
“When I was sliding, I knew a hit was coming, and I managed to turn myself around, but maybe not enough,” explained Young prior to the wet start of the 8 Hour. “I was looking for a gentler approach, but that was not to be! My back and hip hit the unprotected guard rail, and my Alpinestars air bag did deploy, or things would have been much worse.”
From here, a discussion took place regarding the fact that even at an International event such as Suzuka, with an incredibly diverse field of top Superbike racers (maybe 100 plus seriously able bodies in the paddock – where else is this possible?) – some of the racers opt not to use an air bag system, possibly to save weight. Young is physically bigger than most of the other racers, and the Air Bag does increase the overall weight of rider and gear slightly.
“The bike was fine just a bit muddy,” continued Young of his crash on what was initially the team’s “B” CBR after a minor oil leak in the designated racer during Wednesday’s damp test. “I damaged otherwise, sets obviously (foot peg and controls and brackets), and also a rad hose, otherwise I might have ridden back in, but it just looked too risky so late in the session.”
During the race, racers regularly returned from incidents under their own power to the pits, sometimes with bikes that initially looked unrideable following big tumbles through Suzuka’s mostly expansive, usually gravel run off.
Suzuka is an important race at a legendary and historic venue and carries the pomp and “buzz” that only a few races can manifest. The competitors respect this, and the desire to keep going and get to the finish if at all possible is tangible in the attitude and behaviour of everyone involved – you can’t help but feel the Suzuka Ju Ju.
For Young, this means going out of his way during his busy season to add to his workload, in a high risk/low reward situation. Two years ago, Young was trying to get BMW’s attention for a possible WEC ride in the future, and in some ways that effort caused the eventual shock switch Honda Canada in the winter of 2024-2025.
Young came straight to Japan from a Sunday win at Calabogie, at a track with fresh pavement that might be considered with comparing to Suzuka, at least in terms of Canadian circuits. That GPBikes Pro Superbike race six of 2026 at Calabogie featured an all-Honda podium, with David McKay a career-best second with his Snow Cit entry and rising start Andrew Van Winkle a well placed third,
The Calabogie result was good preparation for the Honda owned Suzuka 8 Hour, in a town where much of the industry is Honda oriented. Most of Ben’s team works for Honda in some capacity, and the squad have been part of the show since the first event.
This means that there is a very structured hierarchy of Honda support, starting with the winning number thirty HRC entry and then covering a range of other teams, often with racers currently or historically affiliated with that manufacturer. In the world of historic four-stroke racing, now called Superbike and street based, the good stuff from Honda doesn’t trickle out to the main World Championship teams until after the Suzuka Enduro.
If that isn’t enough, there is an annex of the Honda Museum just outside the track, an echo of the old unofficial facility that used to operate under a bowling alley nearby in what is now an amusement park. Many in the crowd (but not all) was wearing Honda gear, and T-shirts commemorating their fifth straight win were in evidence right after the race.
But compared to some years, there were not as many local CBR1000RR-Rs able to run the winning pace. Yamaha made a big deal of coming after Honda at home, and MotoGP ace Jack Miller certainly played up the story line – he seemed frustrated by his oh-so-close pace. I would also suggest that BMW really want a win at the Suzuka 8 Hour, and the certainly had some of their top staff on hand to support their M racers.
Not so long ago, Ducati were talking about a Suzuka push, but Italian honors were upheld by a strong, well supported, locally built Aprilia. With the 50th anniversary event just two years away, it will be interesting to see what Honda does to keep up their streak at home.
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