Honda Racing celebrates debut EWC victory at Oschersleben 8

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Honda Racing celebrates debut EWC victory at Oschersleben 8

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#Honda #Racing celebrates debut EWC victory at #Oschersleben 8 Hours

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The Honda Racing team is celebrating its debut Endurance World Championship victory after leading today’s Oschersleben 8 Hours race from the first lap to the chequered flag. The team picks up 35 points to climb to fourth in the EWC standings.

Julien Da Costa started the race for the team and claimed the top spot by the end of the first lap, during which both SERT and YART crashed and SRC Kawasaki pitted with a bike issue. The next few hours passed without incident and with Honda Racing holding on to a one-lap lead ahead of Yamaha Racing GMT94.

At 17.00, while Sebastien Gimbert was on the bike, heavy rain began to fall, forcing all teams to pit early and change to full wet tyres. Freddy Foray took over and remained on board while many other teams succumbed to the wet conditions and the safety car was deployed. An oil spill resulted in the race continuing under these conditions for 45 minutes as the track was cleaned, eventually resuming at 18.45 with just over an hour remaining.

Having carried out an impressive race strategy to pit just six times during the eight-hour battle, Honda Racing held a three-lap lead as Da Costa headed out on cut slicks for the final stint. He held steady on the drying track to bring home the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in first place, securing the team’s first-ever EWC victory. Yamaha Racing GMT94 placed second with Team Bolliger Switzerland in third.

The final round of the 2014 Endurance World Championship – the Le Mans 24-hour – will take place on 21/22 September.



Neil Tuxworth team manager

I’m so pleased for everyone in the team – not just the riders but for the entire crew. We’ve had a lot of heartbreak this year with our results and we should have had a win before now, so it’s great to get this victory, which the team well deserves. Let’s hope we can move forward with the momentum of this result and it will be one of many wins that the team will get in the future.





Julien Da Costa

It has been a difficult season for the team, so this win is good for everybody, the riders and the crew. I am happy because we have worked so hard and this is what we have been aiming for. After the problems at the Bol d’Or and Suzuka, we deserve the win and now we are feeling very positive going to the Le Mans 24-hour.





Freddy Foray

This is such a good thing for everyone, not just us riders but for the whole team. We have worked very hard since the start of the year and it hasn’t paid off until now. We led the race and we won the race and I am very happy for everyone. We needed this win. The race was difficult because of the rain, and that came while I was on the bike so that wasn’t very good for me! But that doesn’t matter now – this is a great thing for the team going into the Le Mans 24-hour.





Sebastien Gimbert

I am happy, especially for the mechanics. Endurance racing is not just about you as a rider and you can’t win it alone. I have two of the best riders with me, I have the best crew and the best bike and we finally got the win we deserve after all the problems. We have pushed so hard and it is so good to get the result. We’ll be looking to win at Le Man. The championship is not over yet!



Race Results - EWC class

1 Honda Endurance Racing 291 laps JPN HONDA Honda Endurance Racing
2 Yamaha Racing - GMT94 - Michelin 289 laps NA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing - GMT94 - Michelin
3 Bolliger Team Switzerland 288 laps NA KAWASAKI Bolliger Team Switzerland
4 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 287 laps FRA SUZUKI Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
5 Team 18 Sapours Pompiers 285 laps NA KAWASAKI Team 18 Sapours Pompiers
6 Monster Energy Yamaha-YART 284 laps FRA YAMAHA Monster Energy Yamaha-YART
7 SRC Kawasaki 282 laps FRA KAWASAKI SRC Kawasaki
8 Flembbo Leader team 279 laps NA KAWASAKI Flembbo Leader team
9 National Motos 278 laps NA HONDA National Motos
10 Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance 277 laps NA SUZUKI Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance
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