Yamaha began racing as a factory in the Suzuka 8 Hours in 1984. Three years later in 1987, riders Martin Wimmer and Kevin Magee gave the team its first-ever victory. Then in 1988, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Magee won Yamaha a second consecutive victory. Following that, Yamaha took wins with Tadahiko Taira and Eddie Lawson in 1990, and Noriyuki Haga and Colin Edwards in 1996. Since then, many Yamaha teams have aimed for the win at Suzuka but come up shy of victory.

This year, for the first time since 2002 (13 years ago), Yamaha will enter the Suzuka 8 Hours as a factory with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. Yamaha has recruited a stellar lineup of riders from the highest echelons of road racing. Reigning All Japan Road Race Champion (Premier JSB1000 class) Katsuyuki Nakasuga will ride with Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith, two fixtures of motorcycle racing's pinnacle class, MotoGP. It will mark the first time since Colin Edwards' participation in 2006 that an active Yamaha MotoGP rider will feature in a Suzuka 8 Hours event.

Team Manager Wataru Yoshikawa, who also heads the Yamaha factory team in the All Japan Road Race Championship, possesses an abundance of Suzuka 8 Hours experience. The machine will be the new 2015 YZF-R1. Although only in its first year of production, the bike is already making waves and garnering positive racing results around the world. Taking Nakasuga's championship-contending YZF-R1 as a base, the motorcycle the team will use is a full factory machine prepared specifically for this event.

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team is set to make their strongest challenge yet. The goal is clear and simple: claim Yamaha's first victory at Suzuka since 1996 (19 years ago).