Following its first victory in the Japanese endurance classic for eight years last year, Honda is aiming to defend its title with Vierge sharing the #33 Honda CBR1000RR-R with Takumi Takahashi and Iker Lecuona.
Vierge served as the reserve rider last year after taking part in pre-event testing, but now steps up to join his World Superbike team-mate Lecuona as well as Takahashi, who competes in the Stock 1000 category of All-Japan Superbike.
