After an heroic battle over 774 laps, the Honda Endurance Racing team has finished the 24 Heures Motos in 19th position scoring 11 Endurance World Championship points.
An action-packed 24-hour race unfolded for Honda’s endurance specialists Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert following the race start at 1500hrs on Saturday 9 April. Gimbert started the race for the team from sixth on the grid but after the opening laps was down in 13th place.
Riding hard aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP, Gimbert fought his way through the pack and by lap 17 was sitting in eighth position. The next few laps proved crucial and, after a safety car deployment and careful riding by Gimbert at the first pit stop, the team were sitting second.
With Foray and Da Costa taking their own turns on the CBR machine all three riders rode faultlessly over a 15-hour period to hold onto second position. However, at around 5am on Sunday morning Gimbert pitted early, reporting a possible issue with the machine.
The Honda crew got to work and Foray headed back on track, but returned immediately reporting the same problem. Over the next hour the team worked tirelessly but saw Foray heroically push the CBR back to the box several times reporting the same issue. An electrical problem was finally traced to a failed sensor and the team got Foray back on track as soon as possible.
Rejoining the action in 32nd position the remainder of the race ran smoothly for the squad with no further issues and it was down to the riders to make the time up on track. At 1500hrs Foray crossed the finish line in 19th place, after pulling back ten seconds on the final lap.
Fellow Honda supported F.C.C TSR Honda enjoyed a solid debut performance in the Endurance World Championship, putting in an impressive display to finish the 24-hours on the podium in third place.
Meanwhile Honda-supported Superstock team Jackson Racing, who were running in third place during the early stages, suffered a gear selection issue with their machine which brought their 24-hour race to a premature finish. The team retired just after 6am when in 21st place.
The Honda Endurance Racing team sits 11th overall in the championship standings and now heads to Portimao in Portugal for testing ahead of the next EWC round there, the Portimao 12-hours, on 11 June.
Neil Tuxworth
Team Manager
After what turned into quite a difficult race in the end the team were able to finish and have collected 11 points going into the championship. Freddy was able to pull ten seconds back on the final lap, but as we were running in second place during the eight-hour period we collected nine additional points at that stage, and the two from 19th place gives us overall 11 points. I know that the riders were disappointed that we had the problem during the race, but it is a credit to them for pushing so hard for the remainder of the race to move up the places and finish within the top 20. We will now head to Portimao for a test next week, where hopefully we can evaluate the race and work on some solutions to ironing out any potential issues ready for the 12 hours in June.
Freddy Foray 111
We had a small problem, which then turned into a big problem for us as it delayed us somewhat on track. We had a positive start and were running second for a long period, so to have lost the track time was disappointing. However, the team worked to get the problem fixed and us back racing quickly and for the rest of the race I did not see anymore issues. I pushed hard on the final lap and gained 10 seconds so was able to finish 19th.
Julien Da Costa 111
The 24-hour race is a difficult race as you have so many emotions throughout and it is very tiring on your body and also your mind. To finish the race is good for the team, but it is also bittersweet as we had that problem during the early morning. We all worked hard with our lap times and to push back up and finish in the top 20. I felt good on the bike and am confident going into testing next week in Portimao.
Sébastien Gimbert 111
Overall I am disappointed with the result. I have come here to win with Honda but luck wasn’t on our side today. However, we were able to finish the race and after the initial problem the rest of the race ran smoothly for us and we were able to move up the ranks to finish in the top 20. It is not ideal, but hopefully we can work on some solutions during the test next week to be fully prepared for the Portimao 12 hours in June.
