The Honda Endurance Racing team will start tomorrow’s 24 Heures Motos from sixth position, after solid qualifying sessions at the 4.185km Bugatti Circuit in France.
Honda’s endurance specialists Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert experienced mixed conditions in both qualifying sessions, which saw Thursday’s installment start wet, but track conditions improved and the team’s combined times placed them fourth overall.
This morning the final qualifying session took place in dryer, but colder temperatures around the circuit. Da Costa was first out on track aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP and finished seventh, with a best time of 1:39.717. Team-mate Gimbert was up next and finished his stint sixth, with a best time of 1:39.608 and Foray was tenth with his best time 1:39.770.
Finally on track for the Honda squad was reserve rider Kyle Smith who finished third with a time of 1:40.766. The World Supersport rider has impressed the team with solid times and ended yesterday’s opening qualifying P1. Combined the times from both sessions see Honda Endurance Racing sixth on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
The team and riders will now prepare for the 24-hour race, which takes place Saturday (9-10 April) at 1500 CEST.
For all the latest news on the team throughout the 24-hours follow @HondaRacingCBR on Twitter.
Neil Tuxworth
Team Manager
We have finished all qualifying and free practices and just have the warm-up left before the start of the race tomorrow. Things have gone well for the team so far and we qualified sixth overall, which we’re happy with. The team is very competitive and we’re certainly one of the teams that is capable of winning this race and being on the podium. We hope to now have a trouble free race, of course weather will play a big part in this as conditions have been very mixed so far. Everyone is working well together and we’ve had no major problems this week, and now look forward to tomorrow and getting the race underway.
Freddy Foray 111
It has been a difficult week with the weather and track conditions have not always been perfect, but we continue to work hard and will start tomorrow from sixth position. The CBR has been consistent all week and the team continues to work hard to make it perfect for us. We are confident for tomorrow, we have a few small changes to try for warm-up, but for now we relax and prepare for the 24-hours.
Julien Da Costa 111
Everything is going well for us this week so far, but it has been difficult with weather conditions; one session will be dry, the next wet and it has been very cold. But we have qualified sixth, which we are happy with and just need to get a good start in the race. The race will be half and half with the weather, so we need to take times and not be too much in a hurry. We are looking forward to the race now and hopefully we will finish strong.
Sébastien Gimbert 111
It has not been a simple week with the weather; it has not been great, one minute it rains and the next it’s dry, so it has been very difficult. Sixth for us in qualifying is good and we are pleased, but we have the potential to push harder. I’m very confident going into the race tomorrow, the CBR is a great machine and the team has worked so hard – the changes are positive. We have a few suspension settings to try for warm-up, but we’re all confident for the race ahead of us.
