The 2019 Suzuka 8 Hours race will be remembered for the fact that it ended in confusion. A surprise, red-flag ending put the outcome in question, and the final result was eventually amended giving the race win to Kawasaki Racing Team's Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam, and Toprak Razgatlioğlu.
Here's what happened. In the final laps of the race, KRT was leading by a decent margin over Yamaha Factory Racing's Alex Lowes, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, and Michael van der Mark. Then, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team experienced a disastrous engine failure that left oil all over the track. It mixed with the small amounts of rain coming down and caught Rea off guard, sending the Ninja ZX-10RR to the ground. Rea had just five minutes to get the bike back to the pits according to EWC rules, but was unable to do so, and in provisional results KRT was listed as a non-finisher.
However, the race was red-flagged and ended, so Kawasaki had an argument the final results should be reverted back to the lap prior to the red flag. The FIM agreed, giving KRT the win.
The final season standings have Team SRC Kawasaki as champions of the 2019 Endurance World Championship.
