Davey Todd calls Suzuka 8 Hours test shootout “brutal” after earning race debut

Isle of Man TT winner Davey Todd admits the audition process to earn his debut at the Suzuka 8 Hours with AutoRace Ube Racing was “brutal”.

The BMW-backed Japanese outfit was left with a gap in its line-up for the 2025 Suzuka 8 Hours after Hannes Soomer was injured in an IDM Superbike race in early July.

The AutoRace squad elected to pit three-time TT winner Todd and Spanish Superbike Championship rider Ivo Lopez against each other at Suzuka during Wednesday’s test day to determine who would get the third seat.

Todd ultimately won out to join Naomichi Uramato and Loris Baz on the No.76 BMW, but admits the process was “brutal”.

“So it was a BMW connection,” Todd said in an interview with the FIM EWC about his Suzuka debut.

“Obviously the team is running BMWs out here. So, when Hannes got injured the team spoke to BMW and BMW put my name forward for the seat.

“So, fortunately, I got the call up. But there was me and Ivo Lopez from the Spanish Championship.

“He got the call up as well directly from the team. It’s less than ideal, let’s say, but they wanted to bring us both out here to make sure they got the best rider for the job.

“It was a bit brutal to be turning up together, hanging out together, and then basically going whoever is better gets the seat.

“Fortunately for me anyway, I got the call up, I got the seat after the test day on Wednesday.

“So, I’m just really stoked to get out there and experience my first endurance race, my first Suzuka.”

Todd says he is still feeling pressure despite being told by the team to enjoy his Suzuka experience, as he wants to deliver on the squad’s lofty ambitions.

“I am really looking forward to it,” he said.

“I guess there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders, because as much as everyone says to come here and try and enjoy it for your first time, I’ve got like the fastest guy [Uramoto] here on my team, who’s currently just off the lap record.

“And Loris is going really well too. The team are looking to be on the podium, if not the top step of the podium.

“So, I don’t want to let them down. I want to do a good job.

“So, I’m just trying to stay focused. To be honest, usually I perform better under pressure, so I like it really.”

After the first qualifying day at the event, the No.76 was second fastest, 0.100s behind the leading No.30 Honda HRC entry of Takumi Takahashi and Johann Zarco.