8 Hours of Oschersleben
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Germany
The FIM Endurance World Championship draws to a close this weekend (27 August) as the final round of the 2016 season takes place in Germany – the 8 Hours of Oschersleben. It is a race close to the hearts of the Honda Endurance Racing team, and its three endurance specialists, as it was this round in 2014 where the squad scored its maiden EWC win.
With the World Championship title firmly in the team’s sights Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert are sitting seventh overall – only 17 points away from the title leaders. With 35 points available for the win, the pressure is on for the team and the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP for the race win to secure the 2016 EWC title.
It’s been a mixed season for the squad with one podium secured at Portimão and two, top-20 finishes at Le Mans and Suzuka. However, the crew and riders know what it takes to win at Oschersleben, so are even more determined to prove their winning capability again at the 3.66km German circuit.
Qualifying for the 8 Hours of Oschersleben takes place on Thursday and Friday, with the race starting at 1400 (GMT +1) on Saturday 27 August.
8 Hours of Oschersleben
Event schedule
Thursday 25 August
1000 – 1100 – Free practice
1500 – 1620 – Qualifying 1 (20 minutes per rider)
2000 – 2130 – Night practice
Friday 26 August
1030 – 1210 – Qualifying 2 (20 minutes per rider)
Saturday 27 August
0900 – 0945 – Warm up
1400 – Race start
2200 – Race finish
Freddy Foray 111
Despite the result at Suzuka it was a good race and we are all feeling stronger from it, if it wasn’t for the small problem we had in the final hour we would have been in the top-ten, but that is racing and we learn and move on. The points coming into the final round are so close, and I believe we can walk away as World Champions from this. We need to focus, push hard and I really believe we can do this. The season has been good overall, we have finished all races and we were on the podium in Portimão, so I’m hoping we can finish the season on a high. The competition will be strong, as everyone wants to win, but we have won before at Oschersleben so we know what we have to do. The team has been working hard to get the Fireblade ready for the last round and I am confident with the work they have done. I am looking forward to getting there now and seeing what we can do.
Julien Da Costa 111
I think coming into the final round of the championship we are in a good position, the title is not out of our reach, but we have a lot of work to do to get there. I will cross every finger I have for us to be World Champions, for sure we have the chance to win, but to get that we have to win the race and nothing else! It has been a better season for us this year, we have a better package with the Fireblade and although at times we have experienced some small issues we have finished all races and got a third place at Portimão – but problems come with endurance racing. Look at Suzuka, a lot of our permanent rivals experienced issues. I’m looking forward to the final round and getting back out on the Fireblade and riding wit
Sébastien Gimbert 111
This weekend will be interesting, I want to believe we can walk away as World Champions it would be great for myself, Julien and Freddy, as well as the team, Honda, our partners and also our fans. There are a lot of teams in our position, who could win, so I think it will be very competitive and we will have a good battle with the other teams. This season has been a little frustrating at times, we have experienced some small problems, which resulted in time lost and positions lost, but that is racing. We have a great team and a fantastic machine with the Fireblade, we know what we have to do this weekend and we will go out and give it our best shot, we have won at Oschersleben before and there is no reason why we can’t again
Jonny Twelvetrees
Assistant team manager
We are going into the finale of the 2016 season sitting in seventh place and just 17 points off April Motos in first place, and nine points from joint second place teams SRC and YART – so the pressure is on! But it’s so close, so everyone will be pulling out the stops to become World Champions! Traditionally we have been strong at Oschersleben, so we will be going for the win again, and with 35 points available, mathematically we could still clinch the championship. Freddy, Julien and Sébastien rode faultlessly in Suzuka and we’re excited to see what Oschersleben brings, the team is working together well and we have made some small changes to the Fireblade, so I can’t wait to get there and bring it all together.
