A drama-filled 24 Heures Motos for F.C.C. TSR Honda France but a Honda 1-2 in the Superstock category
Circuit Bugatti, Le Mans- Last year's winner at Le Mans, F.C.C TSR Honda France makes an incredible comeback from two early crashes, but challenge comes to an end in the final hour - Double delight for Honda Superstock teams with victory for National Motos Honda and second place for Chromeburner-RAC 41-Honda
F.C.C. TSR Honda France started the 24-hour race from the third place on the starting grid with the Australian Josh Hook, based on the combined results achieved during good qualifying sessions aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
With F.C.C. TSR Honda France firmly in the fight for victory and repeat last year’s result, two early crashes put an end to the team's plans.
After 6 laps, Hook had a minor crash and managed to rejoin the race in 26th place and thanks to a series of consistent and solid laps, he managed to place the Fireblade #5 to 8th place after 26 laps.
When Hook returned to the pits, he informed Mike Di Meglio about a strange sensation with the front tyre. The Frenchman took a couple of laps, but unfortunately, he crashed due to a lack of feeling with the front braking.
Di Meglio had to push the bike all along into the pits, where the team made an impressive job repairing the bike. However, the bike fixing cost the team approximately 45 minutes, rejoining the race in 45th position overall and 15th in the EWC category.
Since Di Meglio's return, a new race begun for Honda’s endurance specialist who delivered a series of fast and flawless stints, maintaining consistent lap times throughout the race.
Following the characteristic fighting spirit of the Honda family, the team began an incredible comeback, placing the Fireblade #5 in 8th position in the EWC class in the last quarter of the race.
Unfortunately, when the team was back in the top 10 in the overall standings, just one hour and a half to end the race, the Fireblade #5 suffered a problem when the chain broke, and Hook had to take the bike to the pits, bringing their 24-hour race to an end.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France leaves Le Mans with 5 points and is determined to come back stronger and fight for a victory at the 8 Hours of Spa Motos.
National Motos Honda clinched another superb victory in the Superstock category, aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP to triumph after securing the runner-up spot in the 2023 FIM EWC World Cup and claiming earlier a victory at Le Mans in 2021.
The Honda #55, that got the pole position during the qualifying sessions, made a strong start in the first quarter of the race, leading the race after the first eight hours.
The French team showcased a formidable performance thanks to the efforts of Suchet brothers and Guillaume Raymond during all the race and crossed the chequered flag in first place in Superstock and fifth overall.
Chromeburner-RAC 41-Honda started in third place from the grid in his category with Chris Leesch aboard the Honda CBR1000 RR-R Fireblade SP.
However, early issues with a rear tire and the handlebar forced an extended pit stop, relegating the #41 team to 11th place.
Despite this setback, consistent performances from the riders brought the team back up the ranks, securing a second place by the end of the first quarter of the race.
From that moment onward, the Fireblade #41 maintained their position until the finish line, ultimately securing the runner-up spot on the podium.
The new Honda-powered team in EWC category, Tati Team Beringer Racing, with the squad formed by Hugo Clere, Randy Krummenacher and Coren Perolari got the 5th place in EWC category after the 24-hour race, getting a lot of information to improve the package and be stronger for the next race.
The Honda #4 battled in podium positions throughout the race, but the Honda CBR1000 RR-R Fireblade SP had to stop at the pits to change a rear shock absorber, which caused the team to rejoin in sixth and final position.
Honda Viltaïs Racing started with Florian Alt from the 4th position on the grid after delivering an impressive performance and consistent results throughout the week.
Florian Alt made a good start and quickly found his pace and placed the Fireblade #333 in third place. Following his stint, it was Steven Odendaal’s turn to take over, but the South African couldn’t complete his stint as an issue obliged him to return the bike to the pits.
Despite the best efforts of all the technical crew to fix the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP to get it back on track as quickly as possible, Honda Viltaïs Racing was forced to retire.
Honda #333 gets two points in the championship thanks to the qualifying result, and it is ready to battle at the front in the next race.
The next round of the 2024 FIM EWC Championship will take place at the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, which will host the 8 Heures of Spa Motos on June 8.
It was a day to forget unfortunately. Everything looked good for the race. Everyone was feeling good on the bike. But it didn't work out as expected. It's a shame, but that's racing. In my last stint the chain broke and hit the back of my leg. I'm in a bit of pain, so I'm going to see the medical team to check my leg and find out the verdict.
Unfortunately, it was a very difficult race for us. We had braking issues. I thought Josh's crash was due to a problem with the front tyre, but when I crashed afterwards it was due to a lack of feeling with the front braking. It was a difficult start to the race, but then we came back to the front as fast as we could. In the end, we're happy that Josh wasn't badly injured. It's difficult to start the season like this, but I prefer to start like this and finish well.
It really wasn't the race we'd expected. After the first troubles, we knew it wasn't over and that with the good pace we showed stint after stint, we could still challenge for the podium and even victory. We rode very fast all night and all morning until we were back up to 8th and hoping to take some points at the finish. But in the end the chain broke, damaging the engine block and preventing us from finishing the race. That's endurance racing, you never know in advance what might happen. Now we have to think about Spa, where we absolutely have to win.
