TOUGH DAY IN THE OFFICE FOR HONDA RACING AT ASSEN

It’s been a tough weekend for Honda Racing and its riders Dan Linfoot and Jason O’Halloran as the MCE British Superbike Championship reached its penultimate round at Assen in the Netherlands. Throughout the weekend the Honda duo struggled with pace leaving them unable to show their full potential aboard the all-new 2017 Fireblade.

The opening race of the day got underway in glorious conditions with sunshine over the TT Circuit Assen and with 18 laps of the 2.822-mile track ahead of them, Linfoot started from fourth place and O’Halloran 15th. With a good start off the line the Honda duo made up places in the early stages with Linfoot up into third and O’Halloran into 12th.

With an intense pace at the front the Honda duo struggled with grip throughout and by mid-race distance the pair were trading places sitting tenth and 11th. As the team-mates fought for the final spot in the top-ten, it was a red vs red battle as Linfoot and The O’Show traded paint aboard their Fireblade machines. As the chequered flag dropped O’Halloran crossed the line tenth with Linfoot hot on his heels in 11th.

With slightly warmer track temperatures for the last race of the day Linfoot lined up eighth on the grid with O’Halloran in 12th place. Although receiving a good start off the line, both Honda men were caught in early traffic and at the end of the first lap Linfoot was eighth and O’Halloran was down in 15th.

Pushing throughout the 18 laps Linfoot had made his way into seventh place by half-race distance, but unable to keep pace with his BSB rivals the Yorkshireman eventually crossed the line ninth. Team-mate O’Halloran made progress from 15th place and although unable to maximise the CBR’s full potential at the Dutch circuit, he crossed the line in 13th place.

The Honda Racing team will now regroup and prepare for the final round of the championship, which sees a triple-header weekend at Brands Hatch on 13-15 October.

“It’s been a difficult weekend coming from the success we’ve had recently, but sometimes that’s how racing goes. Race one I had a good grid position from qualifying, we went with a hard rear tyre and we just didn’t have the grip to match. I ended up having a battle with Jason across the line, but the race was disappointing for me as we weren’t able to push on. Track temperatures were warmer for the second race and we had the softer tyre, but the grip just wasn’t there again to challenge and go faster to catch the front group. The pace was consistent throughout but we just weren’t quick enough this weekend. But it’s onto Brands Hatch now; I feel I have a good setting there with the Fireblade so I’ll be looking for some podium action and a strong end to the season.”

Dan Linfoot / #4

“Well we’re coming away from Assen with a tenth and 13th place in both races, which isn’t ideal for us. Unfortunately the crash on Friday in practice left us a little on the back foot in certain areas. During the races I was able to push on from the group I was in, but with the grip issues we experienced I wasn’t able to maintain the progress we made. All in all it has been a tough couple of races and a tough weekend from the crash onwards and it’s disappointing not to come away with more points. But we’ve got to keep our heads high, keeping working and improving, we have some work to do going into the final round and I hope we can have a good end to the season.”

Jason O’Halloran / #22

“Well Assen has been a difficult weekend for Honda Racing especially with the run of form Dan’s been having and with Jason getting a place in the Showdown top-six, unfortunately we just weren’t able to continue that run today. We’ve been plagued with grip issues and it really put us on the back foot in today’s races. It’s a shame as we all know what both Dan, Jason and the Fireblade are capable of, but it wasn’t meant to be this weekend. We’ll now move our focus to the final round at Brands Hatch and we’re looking to finish the year strong with both riders at the sharp end. I know they can both run well at Brands, so hopefully we’ll be able to finish the year strong with a few more podiums for Honda Racing and the new Fireblade.”

Havier Beltran – Honda Racing team manager