The Honda Racing team took part in a four-day test at the Monteblanco circuit in Spain last week in preparation for the 2015 Endurance World Championship, which begins with the Le Mans 24 Hours on 18-19 April.
The team was blessed with warm and dry weather conditions for the duration of the test giving endurance specialists Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert plenty of time on the bike in the Spanish sunshine. It was a full schedule over the days with plenty of track time for the team, who were able to test different settings and work with Dunlop on the tyre selection for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.
Towards the end of the week, the riders performed a few race simulations, allowing them to find a good set-up suiting all riders and achieving consistency in their lap times. Off-track, the team spent time practicing its pit stops, something its super-slick crew are known for with their efficiency and speed.
The Honda Racing team left Spain with confidence ahead of the official pre-Le Mans test in just over two weeks time (31 March – 1 April) and is looking forward to the first round of the championship at Le Mans.
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Neil Tuxworth team manager
“The test went very well, we had no major problems with the bike, no accidents and also we’ve learnt a lot of things. An important thing for the riders was that we performed a lot of long runs on the bike, to simulate an endurance stint.
I think we’re in a good position for Le Mans, we have three riders that we know very well, they all have experience on the Fireblade and we’ve made some changes to the bike for this year. There will be other strong teams this season, but we feel we’ll be one of the strongest teams at Le Mans.”
Steven Casaer race manager
“The test went well for us. We started off testing the bike’s set-up and all the new racing parts that we have on the bike. Then, we made the most of this test to get prepared for the mechanics’ interventions in the event of a crash or a technical problem, in order to be more efficient – the whole team played the game very well and we came out with many solutions to improve our actions on the bike during races. Everything is heading in the right direction for the pre-Le Mans test.”
Freddy Foray
“After these four-days I feel we’ve achieved something really efficient with the bike regarding the electronics. I’m really happy about the test and I am looking forward to Le Mans to see if the work done throughout the winter has been effective, because it is always important to be able to compare yourself with the other teams to get to know where you really are.”
Julien Da Costa
“We are really lucky to be able to test this much during the winter season, because it is rarely the case in the world of Endurance. We’ve completed eight testing days so far and are really happy with the turn of events. We worked a lot on the bike and its set-up and have some new things we can’t wait to test in real race conditions. I’m confident going into this season with a years experience with Honda Racing and the good tests we’ve completed over the winter.”
Sebastien Gimbert
“These tests are useful because they allow us to perfect the bike’s set-up, but they are really positive for us as well because we found our rhythm. Every winter, a rider has many doubts about how he is going to be able to get back to the same level as the previous year, so these tests are important for us to feel more confident. The team did a lot of work, the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP is great to ride and what’s more important: the relationships within the whole team are really good. I can’t wait for Le Mans!”