Honda TT Legends secure fourth at Oschersleben The Honda TT Legends team finished the Oschersleben 8-hour in fourth place today after running yet another smooth and steady race with John McGuinness, Cameron Donald and Jason O’Halloran on board. The race kicked off at 2pm with O’Halloran taking part in the running start. A dramatic first stint saw the safety car deployed in the opening lap after a superstock machine crashed out. In the same hour, EWC contenders YART ran off the track while Bolliger Team Switzerland collided with superstock team QERT, leaving all three playing catch up for the remainder of the race. With two of its EWC rivals out of the running for a top five position, the Honda TT Legends team secured fourth place, while championship leaders SERT led the pack and BMW Motorrad France and Yamaha France GMT 94 tussled for the number two spot. McGuinness, O’Halloran and Donald pushed hard for the next seven hours and despite losing time after a brief safety car appearance in hour six, brought the Honda TT Legends Fireblade home in fourth place without any problems. SERT led from start to finish, while BMW Motorrad France won the battle for second, pushing Yamaha GMT 94 into third. The result leaves the Honda TT Legends joint second in the championship with BMW on 76 points ahead of the final round at Le Mans in September. Russell Benney race manager The team really raised its game this week. Both the riders and the crew have done an excellent job and while it would have been nice to get on the podium, we’ve done what we came here to do. Our objectives were to pull away from Bolliger and Folches and to close the gap on the top teams, both of which we have achieved. We find ourselves in equal second going in to the final round. It’s firmly our objective to be in the top three in the championship and mathematically we can take advantage of every point we can get at Le Mans to achieve that aim. John McGuinness We pushed hard today and we had some objectives to get to the next level and we’ve done that. We’re a lot closer to the front runners than we have been all year. It was just a perfect race really; all the pit stops were good, no mistakes from any of the riders and we ended up fourth. It’s frustrating not to be on the podium because I feel like we deserve it, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying. We’re joint second and we have it all to play for. Cameron Donald I’m absolutely thrilled. I didn’t qualify as well as I wanted to but at the end of the day, it’s endurance racing so it doesn’t matter so much. In the race, we were consistent and smooth, I felt good and John and Jason both rode really well. As a team, we brought home a result we should be proud of. It’s my personal best result in endurance and that feels really good. The last session in the dark was great, the bike is going well and we’re really moving forward. I’m looking forward to building on that at Le Mans and finishing the year off strong. Jason O’Halloran I’ve really enjoyed this race. It was great to start for the team and doing the first stint was a nice feeling more of a sprint race feel. Cam and John both did a great job and we held fourth for pretty much the whole race really. Fourth place is a good result and I’d like to see the team go keep that going in Le Mans to end the championship on a positive note More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: GMT-94 Yamaha Racing France Take Second Consecutive Endurance Podium The GMT-94 Yamaha Racing France Yamalube team took their YZF-R1 to third place this weekend this weekend for the 8Hours of Oschersleben, their second consecutive World Endurance podium of the season. Riders David Checa, Kenny Foray and Gwen Giabbani were highly competitive aboard their R1 all weekend, having started from fourth on the grid they eventually crossed the finish line just 13.209 seconds from second place. The result mirrors the third place podium scored in the Suzuka 8 Hours just two weeks ago. The event had special relevance for Checa, marking the 10th anniversary of his participation with the GMT team. “This race was really special for me as I rode and won here when I joined the team GMT 10 years ago,” says David Checa. “We rode a perfect race this year but the only problem was the competition was tough!” “We fought hard and we were able to show our high level of performance,” commented Christophe Guyot, Team Manager of GMT 94-Yamaha Yamalube Racing Michelin France. “We wanted to emphasize here the performance and reliability of the YZF-R1 to the consumer. We hope to show it again for Le Mans. ” Monster Energy Yamaha YART riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Igor Jerman and Steve Martin looked strong in qualifying with the fastest overall lap time and were early contenders for victory with their YZF-R1 recording the fastest race lap time. Unfortunately Japanese rider Nakasuga was forced to run wide to avoid another rider whilst in second and crashed on the first stint. The team spent 15 laps in the pits repairing the bike before they were able to continue. The team eventually had to retire with a technical issue. As a result they recorded 12th place. “Today another rider’s mistake cost us a possible victory,” commented Mandy Kainz, Manager, Monster Energy Yamaha YART. “Katsuyuki was absolutely the fastest rider of the weekend and both Igor and Steve were also performing well. It’s simply not our year for luck this year.” The final round of the 2012 FIM World Endurance Championship will be the legendary 24Hours of Le Mans at the Bugatti circuit in France on the 8th and 9th September. More, from a press release issued by Santiago Villa’s publicist: The Colombian squad that races in AMA Pro Road Racing — Martín Cárdenas, Santiago Villa, Tomy Puerta, and David Gaviria — raced in a Colombian National Championship event this past weekend at Tocancipa Raceway. Martín and Santiago raced in the big bike 1000cc class. Martín took pole position and broke the lap record of the track, 1:10.3, which he did with his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 in December of 2011. Now with his Suzuki GSX-R1000, he broke his own record to 1:10.1 in a very green track. Santiago Villa won both races of the Ninja Cup 250 and the two races of the Superbike class. Martín DNF both races because he was just testing and getting ready for his AMA races. Gaviria and Puerta had a great battle in the Supermoto Class, but when Gaviria was fighting with Puerta for the lead, Gaviria crashed his Kawasaki 450. From there, Puerta had no match and won the race easy in his AKT Supermoto. Gaviria also raced the Supersport 600cc class and finished second after a very dificult race. Santiago Villa: “It was amazing for me, after 6 months, I finally race and did a good job for my team AUTECO Kawasaki/Tacama Motul/Addict by Bosi/Monster Energy squad. I had a Le Mans start in the 250. That was very funny because I’m still using a cane to walk. So my pole position was nothing on pole, and both races I started 31st or 30th at the líne. But was fun racing this new class, the Ninja Cup 250 from Kawasaki. In Superbike class I qualified second and got the holeshot, but in the first race Martin just catch and destroy. It was fun and I got the 4 wins, but still my body needs a lot of work. Thanks to my personal soponsors HEROIC Leathers, Arai and MSF Designs.” Martin Cardenas: “It was a fun weekend with friends, just doing some laps in my hometown track to be ready for the next AMA round. I wanted to set the lap record in the 1:09 pace, but the track, after the raín and the cold weather, didn’t let me. But I’ll try next time.” Tomas Puerta: “It was a great Supermoto race, but when Gaviria crashed we had a very good lead. So I just took my AKT Supermoto and won the race. Thanks to my sponsors AKT Colombia, Bell Helmets, Addict By Bossi, MIC, Antioquia la mas educada, 7 constructores, Indeportes Antioquia.” David Gaviria: “It was a dificult weekend for me. I crashed in the Supermoto race fighting with my friend Puerta, and in the other race I had some setting problems. But I had a great fight and almost won the race. A big thanks to Addict By Bosi, Euforia Cheesecakes, Arai Helmets.” More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: Top four finish for McGuinness in Germany John McGuinness consolidated his second place in the Endurance World Championship on Saturday when, alongside team-mates Cameron Donald and Jason O’Halloran, he took fourth place on the Honda TT Legends machine at Oschersleben, Germany. The team were on the pace throughout qualifying and they were rewarded in the 8 Hour race with a top four finish to ensure they go into the final round next month still in with a great chance of claiming the World Championship. After the first qualifying session, the three riders were within one second of each other but it was John who was fastest at 1m27.739s to place him third in his group and the trio ended the day in fifth overall. During second and final qualifying, it was O’Halloran’s turn to shine and with Donald also improving his time, the combined average of each rider’s best lap from the two sessions 1m28.053s meant they lined up in fifth place on the grid. O’ Halloran started the race for the team although a dramatic first hour saw the safety car deployed whilst three of the Honda TT Legends’ rivals YART, Team Bolliger and QERT all lost time. With two of their main EWC rivals out of the running for a top five position, John, O’Halloran and Donald pushed hard for the next seven hours and although they briefly lost time in the sixth hour, they were able to bring the Honda Fireblade home in fourth place. The result leaves the team joint second in the championship, tied with BMW on 76 points, with just the final round at Le Mans in September remaining. Speaking afterwards, a pleased John said, “We pushed hard in the race and we’ve made a lot of progress this year, getting closer to the front runners at each and every round. Right from the off we were on the pace and when I got ‘P3′ in first qualifying I thought my throttle must have got stuck or something! I found a really good set up and rhythm and after the test we had here earlier in the year, I was able to hit the ground running. I got caught in a lot of traffic in second qualifying but our combined times got us closer to the front and where we wanted to be so it set us up nicely for the race.” “We had no issues at all with the bike in the race and it was pretty much the perfect race. Anything can happen in an eight hour race but all our pit stops were good and none of us made any mistakes so to finish fourth was very pleasing. Cam and Jason did a great job again as did all the team and whilst it was a bit frustrating not to step on the podium, we gave it 100% and have put ourselves in with a great chance of becoming World Champions.” John now returns to National Superstock 1000cc Championship duty when he contests the next round at Cadwell Park on August 25-27. More, from a press release issued by Glenn Conser’s publicist: MRA ROADRACERS SHINE AT PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB The 90th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb featured a new twist for the first time the race would be held on a fully paved course. The 12.42 mile, 156 turn road to the top of Pikes Peak was built in 1915 and was entirely gravel until 2002. From 2002 2011 the road was slowly paved in short sections, with the last section being completed after the 2011 race. Motorcycles have been competing at Pikes Peak for decades, and the current class structure reflects the either strictly dirt or dual-sport type machines that have dominated the event. With the road fully paved, four local MRA racers decided to accept the challenge known as “The Race To The Clouds”. Mike Applehans, Glenn Conser, Marty Hester and Carl Sorensen would be the first ever to tackle the fully paved course on purpose built roadracing machines. Marty Hester competed in the very popular 250 class on his 12 Volt Tavern sponsored RS125. With the bike struggling in the thin air as the course neared the 14,110′ summit, Marty depended on corner speed and late braking to bring home an 8th place finish with a time of 13:17.402. Applehans, Conser and Sorensen all competed in the Exhibition Powersports class. With this being the first year of a fully paved course, the promoters weren’t sure what types of roadracing machines to expect and decided to take a “wait and see” approach. This meant that all bikes that didn’t fit somewhere in the existing class structure were put into this single exhibition class. Sorensen, riding his Think Tank Tattoo sponsored Triumph 675, was very strong on the lower section and crossed the finish line with a time of 11:29.554, finishing 4th in class and as the 15th fastest motorcycle. While the other MRA riders took advantage of weekend practice sessions available in June, Applehans’ first look at the road from the seat of his Hard Core Racing GSXR600 was during the practice and qualifying sessions in the days leading up to the race. Despite the steep learning curve, he rode his Continental shod Suzuki to the summit in just 11:16.596, earning 3rd in class honors, and as the 12th fastest motorcycle. After a week of strong practice and qualifying runs on his Moto-Garage Racing prepared Yamaha R1, Conser mounted a new set of Pirelli’s and prepared to head to the top of America’s most famous mountain. After a smooth run that included only a few minor mis-steps, Conser crossed the line with a time of 11:02.201, fast enough for 2nd in class and as the 4th fastest motorcycle overall in the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports race in America and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. First competed in 1916 and this year marks the 90th running of the “Race to the Clouds.” The race is run on a 12.42 mile course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,110 foot summit of America’s Mountain; Pikes Peak!