Three Aussie Superbike stars are set to take on the 2011 Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan.

Maxwell, Stauffer and Waters to tackle Suzuka 8 Hour

Three of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship’s strongest and most experienced riders will tackle the iconic Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race at the end of this month.

Jamie Stauffer and Wayne Maxwell will go it alone as a two-rider entry aboard a Team Sakurai Honda CBR1000RR led by Team Honda Principal, Motologic’s Paul Free.Both riders have competed at the grueling endurance race before – Stauffer in 2007 and Maxwell last year.

The most recent ASBK round winner, Stauffer said he felt honoured to be chosen for the role. “I feel honoured that Team Sakurai Honda has chosen Wayne and I to compete as an all-Australian team,” said Stauffer. “The opportunity for us is fantastic – the team itself is a highly professional and successful team and I believe our chance for a podium is very high.”

Maxwell was equally as enthusiastic about the all-Australian team’s chances.”The formula is looking good; Team Sakurai Honda is an outstanding team, Jamie and I are current team mates on a CBR1000RR with Team Honda Racing and both Jamie and I have experience at the Suzuka 8 Hour Race.”

Team Suzuki’s Josh Waters will also make a start at the event, the 34th running of the iconic road race which marks round 3 of the 2011 QTEL FIM Endurance World Championship. 2011 has been a landmark year for the likeable Victorian, who now has two World Superbike starts to his name. He will join Yoshimura Suzuki riders Yukio Kagayama and Nobuatsu Aoki on the team’s GSX-R1000.

Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie were the last Aussie riders to take the Suzuka 8 Hour crown way back in 1992.