This weekend (20 May) will see the Honda Endurance Racing team head to Oschersleben, Germany, determined to bring home a strong result aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2.
Endurance specialists Freddy Foray, Julien da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert will be looking to improve upon their result last time out, at the 24 Heures Motos of Le Mans, as they take to the 3.667km German circuit.
As a smooth and fast circuit, but with technical sections, the Honda squad are eagerly anticipating putting the Fireblade through its paces and are ready for the competitive challenge the eight hours will bring.
This year will see the teams and riders face cooler temperatures with the event held in May, instead of its usual place as the season-finale in August. Tyre restrictions will also be back in place after they were suspended in Le Mans, due to the new track surface at the French circuit.
As race winners in 2014, the French trio are looking forward to returning to what is considered to be a favourite circuit among the three.
The 8 Hours of Oschersleben will begin at 1400 CEST on Saturday 20 May. For more information and updates on the team throughout the race, follow
8 Hours of Oschersleben
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Börde
Event Schedule
Thursday 18 May
1000-1200 – Free practice
1500-1620 – Qualifying 1 (20 minutes per rider)
2000-2130 – Night practice
Friday 19 May
1030-1150 – Qualifying 2 (20 minutes per rider)
2000-2130 – Pit walk
Saturday 20 May
0900-0945 – Warm up
1400 – Race begins
2200 – Race finish
Freddy Foray 111
I’m feeling good. Our bike is easy to ride so I think the Oschersleben track should be good for us. The Le Mans race was not our race; despite that, many things we did were good. We have to keep going to work on this Fireblade and hope to have more luck for this round. We have good memories from Oschersleben, but everything is different now. We have to think we can win again to help the team to be stronger. Plus, I never start a race week thinking that we cannot win the race!
Julien Da Costa 111
I’m excited to ride the new Fireblade again and to also try our new update! The Le Mans result wasn’t great, but after a dramatic start we built confidence with many stints without problems. To be honest, a podium will be a good target this weekend, but we always know that anything can happen in EWC!
Sébastien Gimbert 111
I am happy going into this round, Oschersleben is one race that I really enjoy. The team has done a lot of work after the 24 Hours of Le Mans and we have a lot of information on the bike to keep progressing, the Fireblade is a new machine and we, of course, have a lot to learn. The Le Mans result was not the best but we gave it our best and showed how we can make our up the rankings during a race. It was a difficult race mentally but I know I could count on my team and my team-mates who had the same state of mind as me, we all work very well together. As we each race, I am going to Oschersleben with the objective of winning and I will give my best as always, I hope to see the podium.
