Honda Endurance Racing ready to start the Suzuka 8 Hours

by BikeTr@de

Jul 24, 2015

Motorcycle Racing

Suzuka 8 Hours – SUZUKA

The Honda Endurance Racing team will start Sunday’s 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours from 20th position after today’s qualifying sessions at the 5.821km Honda-owned Suzuka circuit in Japan.

Honda’s endurance specialists Julien Da Costa, Freddy Foray and Sebastien Gimbert are taking part in the second Endurance World Championship round in which the squad’s main objective will be to score as many important championship points as possible on board the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.

With 70 teams competing at the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours, the teams were separated in two groups and each rider had two qualifying sessions. The Honda Endurance Racing team finished tenth within B Group.

With a 2’10.342 best lap performed by Gimbert around the legendary Suzuka circuit, the Honda Endurance Racing team will start Sunday’s 8-hour race from 20th position. The Suzuka 8 Hours will start at 11:30 Japanese Standard Time (GMT+9) on Sunday 26 July.

For all the latest news on the team in real time follow @HondaRacingCBR on Twitter.

Neil Tuxworth

We had no problems in qualifying which is a good thing. Freddy had a small crash but that’s not a serious issue for us because we had no problems with the machine and reliability is what we wanted to achieve. Generally the three riders have a very good race pace, we know we are very quick in the pits, we know what our fuel strategy will be and now we’re just looking forward to the race. I’m confident we can be in the top ten and even possibly in the top six if we don’t have any issue during our race.

Julien Da Costa

We are in the same pace as the permanent teams – one of the things that we are sure of is that we have a very good race pace – but of course we would have liked to do a better qualifying as we are competitors. Personally I am quite satisfied, I would have like to be a bit faster but still I am confident for the race.

Sébastien Gimbert

We have a good rhythm on the CBR, we also have a lot of experience in the field of endurance, we have a great strategy and there is consistency between all the three riders within the team – we are all in the same lap times and this is what will make us stronger. We still have a lot of work to do tomorrow before the race on Sunday, but I am happy with what we achieved today. I was satisfied with my lap times, the team worked well, the Dunlop tyres are good and my team-mates were in a good pace as well.

Freddy Foray

Today was not so good for me as I crashed out, but we worked a lot, we will still work hard tomorrow in order to try to get a better feeling at the front. I hope that it will help me to get my confidence back… Tomorrow is another day!

Weather – Sunny

Qualifying Results – Results

1	Team Green	2’06.656	TEAM GREEN	KAWASAKI	Team Green
2	YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE	2’06.958	YOSHIMURA	SUZUKI	YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE
3	Yamaha Factory Racing Team	2’06.877	YAMAHA FAC	YAMAHA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team
4	F.C.C. TSR Honda	2’07.798	JPN	HONDA	F.C.C. TSR Honda
5	MuSashi RT HARC-PRO	2’06.963	JPN	HONDA	MuSashi RT HARC-PRO
6	Honda DREAM RT SAKURAI	2’08.693	HONDA DREA	HONDA	Honda DREAM RT SAKURAI
7	Team KAGAYAMA	2’07.594	TEAM KAGAY	SUZUKI	Team KAGAYAMA
8	EVA RT TEST TYPE-01 TRICK STAR	2’09.117	EVA RT TES	KAWASAKI	EVA RT TEST TYPE-01 TRICK STAR
9	TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI	2’07.622	TOHO RACIN	HONDA	TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI
10	MotoMap SUPPLY	2’09.215	JPN	SUZUKI	MotoMap SUPPLY
11	Monster Energy Yamaha-YART	2’08.973	FRA	YAMAHA	Monster Energy Yamaha-YART
12	Au & Teluru Kohara RT	2’09.278	JPN	HONDA	Au & Teluru Kohara RT
13	Satu HATI Honda Team Asia	2’09.432	SATU HATI	HONDA	Satu HATI Honda Team Asia
14	BMW MOTORRAD France TEAM PENZ13	2’09.325	NA	BMW	BMW MOTORRAD France TEAM PENZ13
15	Honda Suzuka Racing Team	2’09.432	HONDA SUZU	HONDA	Honda Suzuka Racing Team
16	GMT94 Yamaha	2’09.871	NA	YAMAHA	GMT94 Yamaha
17	SRC Kawasaki	2’09.556	FRA	KAWASAKI	SRC Kawasaki
18	Suzuki Endurance Racing Team	2’10.222	FRA	SUZUKI	Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
19	CONFIA Flex Motorrad39	2’10.169	JPN	BMW	CONFIA Flex Motorrad39
20	Honda Endurance Racing CBR	2’10.342	GBR	HONDA	Honda Endurance Racing EWC
21	Team Bolliger Switzerland	2’12.099	NA	KAWASAKI	Team Bolliger Switzerland
22	Team Tenmei Sakura Project	2’10.971	JPN	KAWASAKI	Team Tenmei Sakura Project
23	Team Tras 135HP	2’12.548	TEAM TRAS	BMW	Team Tras 135HP
24	Honda Kumamoto Racing	2’11.512	HONDA KUMA	HONDA	Honda Kumamoto Racing
25	Team Hashimotogumi	2’12.845	TEAM HASHI	SUZUKI	Team Hashimotogumi
26	Y’s distraction Racing	2’11.833	JPN	HONDA	Y’s distraction Racing
27	HLO Racing with RANGER & Garage36	2’13.001	JPN	SUZUKI	HLO Racing with RANGER & Garage36
28	Team Honda Technical College	2’13.351	JPN	HONDA	Team Honda Technical College
29	Team April Moto/Motors Events	2’13.173	NA	SUZUKI	Team April Moto/Motors Events
30	TEAM HOOTERS KTM with Syota SAITO	2’13.558	TEAM HOOTE	KTM	TEAM HOOTERS KTM with Syota SAITO