Honda drafts in Jacobsen for Camier at Suzuka 8 Hours

PJ Jacobsen has been promoted to the Red Bull Honda with Japan Post rider line-up to replace the injured Leon Camier, while Randy de Puniet has taken the American’s vacant role at MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda entry.

Camier was forced out of the iconic endurance race after suffering a fractured vertebra during testing at Suzuka and following medical checks was declared unfit to contest the race at the end of the month.

As a result, Jacobsen, who competes with Camier in World Superbikes for the TripleM Honda team, has been called up to the factory Honda squad to team-mate Takumi Takahashi and Takaaki Nakagami.

The team will compete with Honda’s CBR1000RRW, a race-specification version of the CBR1000RR SP2 which Jacobsen races in World Superbikes.

Jacobsen's spot at the MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda squad has been taken up by former MotoGP and World Superbike contender de Puniet who will race alongside Ryo Mizuno and Dominique Aegerter.

Honda is aiming to end Yamaha’s consecutive wins streak at the Suzuka 8 Hours which has stood since 2015, while the manufacturer has the all-time victory record with 27 wins compared to Yamaha’s seven wins.

The 41^st Suzuka 8 Hours takes place on July 27-29.

Fellow World Superbike rider Chaz Davies has recently suffered a collarbone fracture while training but the Aruba.it Racing Ducati rdier is expected to make a full recovery over the summer break, with the campaign resuming at Portimao on September 14-16. Camier is also expected to make a full recovery from his vertebra fracture in time for the Portimao round.