Thu 12 Jul, 02:02 PM
Crash.net
Both Honda LCR rider Checa and 2008 grand prix 'wannabe' Toseland, whose regular seat is at Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, will ride for the official Honda team at the prestigious event.
Toseland will be teamed with reigning BSB champion Ryuichi Kiyonari, while Checa will ride alongside Kiyonari's closest BSB rival Jonathan Rea. Kiyonari and Rea, team-mates at HM Plant Honda, were the winners of the 'Suzuka 300km' race on 10th June.
Other familiar names taking part in the race will be Suzuki MotoGP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki and current Alstare Suzuki WSBK pilot Yukio Kagayama, who will both ride for the official Yoshimura Suzuki outfit, while former 500GP race winner Norick Abe will be joined by Australian Superbike and Supersport champion Jamie Stauffer at the official Yamaha team.
The official Japanese teams will be racing at Suzuka in the JSB category (Japanese Superbikes) and therefore not for points in the QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship. The only exception will be the Honda FCC TSR of Takeshi Tsujimura and Shinichi Itoh, winners of the 2006 Suzuka 8 Hours, who are entered into the Superbike category and will thus race shoulder-to-shoulder with the permanent teams.