Honda had a bit of fun a few weekends back – and since we love all things two-wheeled here at MotorBikeWriter, let’s take a look at the stats.
The July 17-18 weekend showcased Honda racing teams speeding to success, thanks to a long-standing collaboration with French oil manufacturer Motul.
Here’s a breakdown of how everyone is doing so far:
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
FCC (Fuji Clutch Co.) TSR (Technical Sports Racing) Honda France snagged a win at the Cicuito do Estoril on the Portuguese Riviera. This was the team’s first victory for the FIM Endurance World Championship 2021 and one that showcased their partnership with Motul to a tee.
Team HRC extend their lead in the MXGP championship
Team HRC also beat the heat and took advantage of the partnership with Motul by prettying up their CRF450RW with the Motul 300V Factory Line Off Road 5W-40 4T. Results were a success, with team HRC taking first place at MXGP of The Netherlands.
National Motos racing team carves their way into the podium
Honda’s National Motos (also supported by Motul) burned up the superstock class with a podium finish, awarding the team with the Dunlop Independent Trophy (Twice the charm!)
Tim Gasjer from Team HRC takes the overall win at the MXGP in the Netherlands.
Thanks to Motul’s joint partnership with Honda, the Motul 300V Factory Line Racing Kit Oil 2376H 0W-30 ESTER Core® was created with the FCC TSR Honda France racing team in mind, with the oil engineered specifically for their CBR1000RR engine.
The results are nothing short of fantastic, providing the CBR1000RR with superior power output yet maintaining the full reliability of the machine.
Because of this excellent compatibility between bike and oil, Honda’s CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP remained reliable for over 400 laps.
Here are the more detailed specs on all of Honda’s racing team results:
FIM EWC QUALIFYING RESULTS
#5 F.C.C TSR Honda France CBR1000RR
The Team:Josh Hook | Yuki Takahashi | Mike Di Meglio
The Results: P3 in EWC class, P3 Overall (1:39.309)
#55 National Motos CBR1000RR
The Team: Stéphane Egea | Guillaume Antiga | Enzo Boulom
The Results: P4 in Superstock class, P13 Overall (1:41.233)
FIM EWC RACE RESULTS
#5 F.C.C TSR Honda France CBR1000RR
The Team: Josh Hook | Yuki Takahashi | Mike Di Megli
The Results: P1 in EWC class, P1 Overall (417 laps completed, Fastest Lap – 1:39.801)
#55 National Motos CBR1000RR
The Team: Stéphane Egea | Guillaume Antiga | Enzo Boulom
The Results: P2 in Superstock class, P9 Overall (407 laps completed, Fastest Lap – 1:41.171)
FIM MXGP RACE RESULTS
#243 Team HRC CRF450RW
The Team: Tim Gajser | Mitch Evans
The Results: P3 in Grand Prix Race 1 (20 Points), P2 in Grand Prix Race 2 (22 Points), P1 Overall (42 Points)
Our hats off to the young racers – looking forward to seeing what Motul and Honda give us next!
The F.C.C. TSR Honda France team, of the FIM Endurance World Championship will go into the 2021 season with a new three rider line-up, with Yuki Takahashi joining Australian Josh Hooks and Frenchman Mike di Meglio, with the line-up announced at Suzuka.
Josh Hook on the F.C.C. TSR Honda in France this year
Yuki Takahashi, who caught the eye in the GP250 (5th in 2008) and subsequently in Moto2, has also made his mark in the JSB 1000 Superbike championship (fifth in 2018), and recently won the first All Japan Superstock 1000 title in the new category the Japanese championship introduced in 2020.
Most importantly, Yuki Takahashi has a strong track record in the Suzuka 8 Hours. He climbed the third step of the 2010 Suzuka 8 Hours podium with F.C.C. TSR Honda, and finished second in 2012 in the saddle of Toho Racing with Moriwaki’s Honda. He then continued racing with Moriwaki, regularly finishing in the top 10 at Suzuka.
Yuki Takahashi
“I’m thrilled to join the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team. As a child, my dream was to become world champion. I have MotoGP and World Superbike experience. I’ll do my utmost to become the world champion in the FIM EWC with this team.”
Yuki Takahashi & Masakazu Fujii
Yuki Takahashi has now signed up to be a full-season FIM Endurance World Championship rider alongside another two of the sport’s great champions.
27-year-old Josh Hook, who won the 2017-2018 FIM EWC title with F.C.C. TSR Honda France, stepped onto the Suzuka 8 Hours podium for the Japanese team in both 2015 and 2017.
Josh Hook F.C.C. TSR Honda France
Mike di Meglio is the team’s final rider, and was the GP125 world champion in 2008, not to mention a Moto2 and then MotoGP rider, and has been proven a force to be reckoned with in EWC since 2017.
Josh Hook and Mike di Meglio campaigned the F.C.C. TSR Honda France Fireblade to third in this year’s championship, taking victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as second at the 12 Hours of Estoril, ending the season just six-points off second placed YART, while trailing SERT by 24-points.
The 24 Heures Motos victory in August on the 2020 CBR1000RR-R’s was its maiden outing, with F.C.C. TSR Honda France aiming to reclaim the world title with their new line-up in 2021, on the new machine.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France with new CBR1000RR-R at the 2020 24 Heures Motos
Masakazu Fujii – Team Manager of F.C.C. TSR Honda France
“Yuki Takahashi took part in our tests in Japan before the 24 Heures Motos. This project was not on the cards back then. But you have to make constant progress and try to improve the entire team – the riders, the machine and the technical crew – to win. Yuki Takahashi is an excellent rider, with a personality I relate to and appreciate. This project will further strengthen our East-West collaboration.”
Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Mike Di Meglio have claimed the 8 Hours of Oschersleben win in the Endurance World Championship for F.C.C. TSR Honda France, from Team SRC Kawasaki France (who now lead the FIM Endurance World Championship) and VRD Igol Pierret Expériences. With a 4th-place finish, Moto Ain claimed both the Superstock win and the FIM Endurance World Cup.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France topped the podium – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
The podium was starting to look like a done deal, with four of the favourites battling it out in the lead from the race start, when big drama shook things up an hour and a half before the finish at Oschersleben. YART Yamaha’s engine failure while they were locked in battle with F.C.C. TSR Honda France for the win caused Honda Endurance Racing, then in 4th place, to crash, throwing the end of the race wide open.
Broc Parkes – YART
“The Oschersleben 8 Hour ended for us about 1.5hrs from the end, Marvin was on the bike when it caught fire on track and they had to bring it back on the trailer. We were leading the race and had a good chance of the win. There’s nothing else we could have done today, we all rode great, no mistakes and consistent pace so its a shame it had to end early.”
F.C.C. TSR Honda France, the 2018 race winner, triumphed ahead of Team SRC Kawasaki France. The Kawasaki riders Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa and Erwan Nigon made it to the second step of the podium. Most importantly, they lifted the factory Kawasaki to the top of the provisional standings in the run-up to the grand finale at Suzuka.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
For VRD Igol Pierret Expériences (Florian Alt, Florian Marino and Xavier Siméon), their third-place podium finish was as good as a win. The Yamaha-supported team secured their first podium in their first Formula EWC season.
Fourth-place finishers Moto Ain also savoured victory. Roberto Rolfo, Robin Mulhauser and Stefan Hill led the Superstock class for 204 of the total 303 laps run. They secured the Superstock win at Oschersleben ahead of Wójcik Racing Team 2 and BMRT 3D Maccio Racing. Above all, they won Moto Ain’s first-ever FIM Endurance World Cup.
Their battle with GERT56 by GS Yuasa for the Cup was closely fought. The BMW-mounted German team, who were leading the world standings before Oschersleben, finished the race in 13th place after running out of fuel and experiencing electrical issues.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
The Superstock teams were particularly competitive in Germany. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers ran a solid race in 9th place to win the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy singling out the fighting spirit of an entire team. No Limits Motor Team and Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto, 11th and 12th at the finish, also delivered a noteworthy performance. Junior Team LMS Suzuki were a contender for the FIM World Cup early on in the race, but a crash relegated them to 17th at the finish line.
Like Junior Team LMS Suzuki, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team had a tough race with two crashes and finished 10th. The standings leader before the race in Germany, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will get to Suzuka with a five-point lag behind Team SRC Kawasaki France.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
Another of the favourites who got unlucky were ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance. They got off to a good start, but finished 19th after colliding with another bike.
These upsets should not overshadow two excellent performances at Oschersleben. Fany Gastro BMW Motorrad by Mercury Racing (Karel Hanika, Ondrej Jezek and Ladislav Chmelik) secured their finest result this season with a 5th-place finish. Likewise, Webike Tati Team Trick Star were 7th at the finish. Julien Enjolras and Kevin Denis had clearly got the measure of their new EWC Kawasaki with the help of Bastien Mackels at Oschersleben.
10-seconds off Moto2 pace but a lot of speed to be found
High-profile MotoE riders sparked up their mounts for the first time in Spain overnight in company with the official Moto2 testing schedule ahead of season 2019.
The fastest time from the first outing for the MotoE machines came from Ajo Motorsports rider Niki Tuuli, a 1m51.721. That opening day benchmark nearly ten-seconds slower than the fastest Moto2 time of the day recorded by Lorenzo Baldasarri, as a new chapter also started for Moto2 with the move to Triumph engines for season 2019.
Clearly, these are only the first baby steps for the MotoE machines, but with high-profile teams and highly skilled riders, Dorna is certainly providing this new class with every chance of success.
Angel Nieto Team’s Energica MotoE machine
Many riders would have liked to have turned a lot more laps but were restricted by battery capacity and recharge times, as at this test many of the two-rider teams only had one machine at their disposal to be shared by two riders.
Former WorldSSP podium finisher and Moto2 rider Niki Tuuli (Ajo Motorsport MotoE) topped the times on Day 1 of three, setting a quickest time of 1:51.721.
Moto3 laptimes had tumbled dramatically after the first runs, and by the end of play Tuuli, a previous WorldSSP podium finisher, proved fast enough to beat 2017 European Moto2 Champion Eric Granado (Esponsorama Racing) by 0.121s.
Former Grand Prix rider Randy de Puniet (LCR E-Team) completed the top three with only 0.185 splitting the trio.
Randy de Puniet (LCR E-Team)
Bradley Smith is another high-profile current riders to be taking on MotoE in 2019, alongside his new official test role as development rider for Aprillia MotoGP, the Brit will race MotoE with the One Energy Racing Team and was 0.618 off the top on his first outing.
Bradley Smith
Bradley Smith
“I am happy to have completed my first laps on the MotoE bike. The first session was in the wet, so it was a good opportunity to compare it to the feeling in the dry conditions that we had later. I am positively surprised with the handling of the bike and the way it has performed here at Jerez. We have to work out which steps we need to take to improve everything and evaluate the result of each step. So far everything we have seen has been positive; now we need to analyse the work we have done on this first day and make a plan for tomorrow. We were in the top three for the majority of the day, now we have to work out a way to be the fastest, which is the objective.”
Bradley Smith
Alex De Angelis (Alma Pramac Racing) was just 0.064 behind Smith in P5. The much anticipated return of former MotoGP frontrunner Sete Gibernau, meanwhile, saw the 45-year-old hit the ground running and only just over a second off the top.
Sete Gibernau
World Endurance Champion Josh Hook was P14 and shared the Alma Pramac electric bike with team-mate Alex De Angelis as the Australian got his first brief taste of MotoE machinery. Hook finished up in P14 just behind fellow WEC regular Kenny Foray who made his debut with the new Tech3 MotoE squad.
Kenny Foray – P13
“Everything was totally new for me today and I also didn’t know the track very well yet. So, the first laps I spent to learn the track and then I started to try to find a feeling, after being on a 1000cc machine all the time. Lap by lap, I enjoyed it more and more, but I know, I still have to work a lot on myself to adapt my style, especially to improve my corner speed and some other things. I have to admit, it’s not easy, but it’s a lot of fun!”
Kenny Foray
Josh Hook – P14
“I had a great time. If I have to be honest, I was impressed by the power delivery of the bike when accelerating, but mainly the most impressive thing was how easy the bike is to ride. After two laps I was already pushing hard. I wanted to lap more but the battery doesn’t allow it”.
Female road race sensation María Herrera is also taking on the new challenge of in an Ángel Nieto squad alongside team-mate Nico Terol. Terol was the faster of the two on day one after completing ten laps with a best effort of 1’54.192. Terol had the opportunity to ride the bike here on the occasion of the Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the year and is confident that there is plenty of room for improvement over the next two days of the test.
Nico Terol – P12
“I did seven laps in the final session of the day, after watching my team-mate in the other two. I didn’t have the set-up how it needed to be – it was very soft on the front and I couldn’t brake how I wanted. On the fourth lap I set my best time and I am sure I could have gone faster but tomorrow I will have two sessions back to back and I’ll be able to give more and get more out of the bike.”
Nico Terol
María was riding the Energica machine for the first time and was sixteenth fastest in her debut appearance on the bike she will race in 2019. The Spanish youngster reported a good feeling from her first laps of the Spanish track and already has some ideas on how to adapt her riding style to the specific demands of this new machine.
María Herrera – P16
“The first feeling with the MotoE bike is good, the acceleration is quite smooth and it reminds me of a 600 – you have to keep the corner speed up because you can’t be aggressive on the gas. I have to understand the best way to get this bike stopped with the weight it has, which will be one of the main points of focus, as well as the inertia in corner entry, having never ridden a bike like this before. I didn’t ride much today, only the first two sessions, but I am keen to get the bike set up how I like it and seeing how far we can go with it.”
María Herrera
Teams and riders were not just getting their heads around new and very different machinery than they had ridden before, but also were getting up to speed with new rubber. Specially designed, the front tyres are a derivative of MotoGP tyres but the rears have more of a Superbike background.
The fronts need to support the heavy bikes under braking, whereas the rears need to warm up quickly for the shorter race distances in the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup. With the different characteristics of each, that made it something very new for each rider out on track – regardless of their racing experience.
Lucio Cecchinello put this image out on his Instagram account that shows some of what is behind the fairings of the new MotoE machines
