Fifth for F.C.C. TSR Honda France in Bol d’Or qualifying
Paul Ricard CircuitThe Bol d'Or roars into action tomorrow, and it's a fifth place start on the grid for the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team.
F.C.C TSR Honda France will line up fifth on the grid for tomorrow’s 89th Bol d’Or 24-hour race, as the Grand Finale of the 2026 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) takes place at the iconic Circuit Paul Ricard in France.
With glorious conditions throughout the week at the 5,673km-track, the Honda-powered squad of Alan Techer, Corentin Perolari and John McPhee enjoyed solid practice and qualifying sessions, awarding themselves a strong start for tomorrow’s 24-hour race aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Bol d’Or action kicked off on Thursday (17 September) with two practice and the first qualifying session, where during the morning practice the #5 Fireblade recorded the seventh fastest lap time with a 1:51.999.
It was Techer who opened the first qualifying session for the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team, setting a 1:53.228 lap time, placing eighth overall. Perolari followed with a 1:52.452, which placed him fifth in the yellow group. McPhee, at only his second 24-hour event, placed 10th with a 1:55.323. In the night practice the trio completed the days’ action fourth overall with a best lap time of 1:53.023, just 0.376s shy of the leading team.
Friday’s final qualifying session saw lap times tumble with Perolari quickest of the #5 riders, setting a 1:51.360 lap time to finish second overall in the yellow-rider group. McPhee took seconds off his first qualifying time moving up the ranks to sixth with a 1:52.333 time, while Techer also went faster and finished seventh in the blue group. Based on the combined average of the two fastest laps from both sessions, F.C.C. TSR Honda France will start from fifth on the grid, with an average time of 1:51.731. The result from qualifying sees them collect one extra point towards their championship challenge.
Meanwhile Tati Team AVA6 Racing with Hugo Clère, Mike Di Meglio and Isaac Viñales completed their qualifying in sixth place aboard their Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP securing an average lap time of 1:52.838.
In the Superstock class Wójcik Racing Team #77, with Jordi Torres, Mateusz Molik and Milan Pawelec secured second place in their category, ahead of TRT27 AZ moto in seventh, Dafy-Kaedear-RAC41-Honda were eighth and NATIONAL MOTOS HONDA FMA ninth.
The 89th Bol d’Or gets underway tomorrow (Saturday 18 September) at 15:00hrs (CEST), with the race finishing on Sunday (19 September) at 15:00hrs (CEST).
“The feeling we have with the bike is pretty good, what’s important is to end on a positive note and put in a good race. So we’re going to focus on the race, hour by hour. But we’ve got a good average pace; all three of us are within the same time, so tomorrow could really be a great race.”
“The feeling we have with the bike is pretty good, what’s important is to end on a positive note and put in a good race. So we’re going to focus on the race, hour by hour. But we’ve got a good average pace; all three of us are within the same time, so tomorrow could really be a great race.”
“During the first qualifying session, we focused mainly on set-up. So we should have a very good race pace, all three of us have a good rhythm with the Fireblade and we’re ready for this final race.”
“During the first qualifying session, we focused mainly on set-up. So we should have a very good race pace, all three of us have a good rhythm with the Fireblade and we’re ready for this final race.”
“We have focused throughout the week a lot on the race setup. We tried quite a lot of variations in terms of the bike setup, but we went full circle, to be honest, and came back not too far from where we were. But I think that’s a positive because it shows that our base from the last few races has been good and we’ve been fast at every race so far, so there’s no need to really vary too far away from that, as it’s proven that it works. So, we’re happy with the direction we’ve been going in, we all did a fast lap this morning in qualifying and improved our times - so yeah we’re feeling good. I still feel like a bit of a rookie going into the race because it’s only my second 24-hour. I know it’s going to be tough, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”
“We have focused throughout the week a lot on the race setup. We tried quite a lot of variations in terms of the bike setup, but we went full circle, to be honest, and came back not too far from where we were. But I think that’s a positive because it shows that our base from the last few races has been good and we’ve been fast at every race so far, so there’s no need to really vary too far away from that, as it’s proven that it works. So, we’re happy with the direction we’ve been going in, we all did a fast lap this morning in qualifying and improved our times - so yeah we’re feeling good. I still feel like a bit of a rookie going into the race because it’s only my second 24-hour. I know it’s going to be tough, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”
