Third place start for F.C.C. TSR Honda France in final title defence push at Bol d’Or finale
Paul Ricard CircuitThe final round of the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship takes place this weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard from 14 to 17 September, and F.C.C. TSR Honda France is ready to defend its world championship title at the 86th Bol d’Or.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France is currently leading the overall standings with 138 points, and the reigning world champion has a 13-point lead and the team is confident and determined to fight to retain the world championship title aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and give F.C.C. TSR Honda France its third EWC World Championship title.
Honda’s endurance specialists Alan Techer, Mike Di Meglio and Josh Hook, who is back from the injury, and a reserve rider for this round, Hikari Okubo, placed the #1 Fireblade 3rd on the grid ahead of tomorrow’s 24-hour race.
In the first qualifying session on Thursday, Hook was the first to take the track at the blue riders’ session, setting the 3rd fastest time of his session in 1:52.654. Then French rider Di Meglio followed on the track with a time of 1:52.509, and finally, his compatriot Techer took the lead from the start and improved the time, setting the fastest time in his session with a lap time of 1:51.707. Japanese rider Hikari Okubo was 7th fastest among the reserve riders with a time of 1:57.655.
At night session the Honda trio was the second fastest team on the track at the night session with a time of 1:53.086.
On Friday, the team decided that Di Meglio was the only rider to return to the track for the second qualifying session, taking into account the excellent result from Techer on the first qualification and giving more rest to Hook. The Frenchman clocked a lap of 1:52.021, improving his previous time by almost half a second.
By averaging the two fastest times from the qualifying sessions, the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team riders put the Honda #1 in 3rd place on the grid. This solid result gave the team 3 additional points very important for the championship with enough confidence and the aim of keeping its number 1.
Honda Viltaïs Racing team, winner of the 2022 Bol d’Or, enters the final round place in 6th position in the standing and leading the best privateer team.
The Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP made up of Florian Alt, Steven Odendaal, Leandro Mercado, and James Westmoreland clocked an average time of 1:53.470 to place the Honda #333 in 8th place at the starting grid.
One of the goals for Honda Viltaïs Racing is to win the EWC Independent Trophy and help Honda win the manufacturer’s title, scoring as many points as possible, a part of of course, winning again the Bol d’Or race as last year.
With the solid trio of endurance riders, the Swiss brothers Sebastien and Valentin Suchet, and Frenchman Guillaume Raymond, National Motos Honda set the second-best lap time in the Superstock, 1:54.408. Their win at 24 Hours SPA gives them confidence to fight for the victory together with the excellent performance of the #55 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Another Honda team competing in the Superstock category is Honda No Limits, which signed the fifth-fastest lap and is currently in second place in the standings.
Although Honda RAC 41 Chromeburner finished in 11th place, the leader of the SST standings is very confident to step on the podium as the performance of the Fireblade is very good, and the three riders have a very good and consistent race pace.
The 86th Bol d’Or race will be flagged of at 3pm (CEST) on Saturday, 16th September and finished at 3pm (CEST) on Sunday 17th September.
“The team prepared a very good bike for this circuit, and we didn't need to change many settings. All three of us are comfortable and fast on the bike, making the race easier. We have the speed and consistency, so everything is going according to plan. If we don't have any problems in the race, we'll be very competitive this weekend.”
“I had a bit of a crash in practice, and I'm sorry for the team. It was important to score points now. We're 3rd on the grid and that's good because we've gained one more point on YART. We have a good pace and we need to concentrate on the race. I think we have the bike to manage our race while staying in front.”
“Josh and I opted not to ride because there weren't many qualifying tyres left and Mike had a better chance of improving today. The feeling on the bike is excellent. But the main thing is that all three of us have a very good pace. Now we have to stay concentrated throughout the race because the objective is of course, the championship.”
