The second round of the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship takes place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamp, where the format has changed from 24 to 8 hours of racing. The iconic 6.985-kilometre Belgian track hosts the event of 8 Hours of Spa Motos from 7 to 8 June 2024.
Under sunny and dry conditions, F.C.C. TSR Honda France secured the second fastest time aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP ahead of tomorrow’s 8-hour race.
For the 8 Hours of Spa Motos, only Josh Hook and Alan Techer will be on the saddle of the Honda #5 as Mike Di Meglio is out of action following an injury that occurred at Nogaro while competing in the French championship last weekend.
Despite this situation, Honda’s endurance specialists Hook and Techer are confident and determined to fight for a victory and podium finish racing the 8-hour race together.
Both riders had a good testing on Wednesday, completing enough laps to fine-tune the bike setting of the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
In the morning, the Honda #5 secured the second position in the free practice session with a time of 02:19.243.
During the first qualifying session, Australian rider Josh Hook set a time of 2:19.176, placing second in the blue group, just two-tenths off the leader. French rider Alan Techer also achieved the second fastest time in his session, clocking in at 2:19.482.
In the afternoon, for the second qualifying session, the team decided that only Techer would return to the track, given Hook’s excellent performance in the first qualifying session. The Frenchman recorded the best lap time of his group, 2:19:379, improving on his previous time.
These performances, combined with the excellent work of the entire team and the riders, enabled the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team to secure second place on the starting grid aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP with a lap time of 02:19.278. This strong result also means that the team now has 4 additional points in the overall standings.
In the Superstock category, three Honda team secured spots in the top four.
Wójcik Racing Team 777 set the second-best lap time in their category, clocking in at 02:22.548. Following closely, Honda No Limits completed the top three with a timing of 02:22.949.
The current leaders of the FIM Endurance World Cup, National Motos Honda FMA, signed the fourth best lap time, 02:23.000.
The 8 Hours of Spa Motos will start at 1pm (CEST) on Saturday 8th June and finish at 9pm (CEST).
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
My partner gave birth to our first child yesterday morning so I didn’t get much sleep, but with our 2nd place in qualifying it’s exciting things! I think I could have gone quicker because I didn’t manage to set the perfect lap on the qualifying tyre, but we did a good job with Alan. The race without Mike is going to be a bit more difficult for us, but we’ve taken a big step forward since last year. Everyone is going faster and the bikes are working well. A race like Suzuka with 2 riders is very hard, but here it’s less physical and the weather looks good, which will make things easier for us. We have confidence in our team to give their best and get points for this race.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
We’re very happy with the good work we’ve done. We quickly found the right set-up with Josh and we’re both comfortable on the bike, which is important for going fast. Unfortunately, Mike is injured and isn’t with us, but he calls me every hour to see how things are going for the team. I think we could have gone a bit quicker in qualifying, but our objective is the race. We have a good pace and by racing in pairs, we’ll be spending more time on the bike together and that could be an advantage in terms of understanding the track conditions.
- Qualifying
- Standings
| Pos. | Team | Constr. | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC | Yamaha | 02:18.587 |
| 2 | F.C.C. TSR Honda France | Honda | 02:19.278 |
| 3 | YOSHIMURA SERT Motul | Suzuki | 02:19.357 |
| 4 | BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM | BMW | 02:19.820 |
| 5 | HONDA VILTAIS RACING | Honda | 02:20.287 |
| 6 | KAWASAKI WEBIKE TRICKSTAR | Kawasaki | 02:21.112 |
| 7 | KM99 | Yamaha | 02:21.361 |
| 8 | TATI TEAM BERINGER RACING | Honda | 02:21.365 |
| 9 | Team Bolliger Switzerland | Kawasaki | 02:22.267 |
| 11 | Wójcik Racing Team 777 | Honda | 02:22.548 |
| 12 | Honda No Limits | Honda | 02:22.949 |
| 13 | National Motos Honda | Honda | 02:23.000 |
| 14 | BMRT 3D MAXXESS NEVERS | Kawasaki | 02:23.222 |
| 15 | Tecmas MRP BMW Racing Team | BMW | 02:23.412 |
| 16 | TEAM 18 SAPEURS POMPIERS CMS MOTOSTORE | Yamaha | 02:23.449 |
| 17 | TRT27 BAZAR 2 LA BECANE | Suzuki | 02:23.488 |
| 18 | AVIOBIKE | Yamaha | 02:23.720 |
| 19 | TEAM 33 LOUIT APRIL MOTO | Kawasaki | 02:23.898 |
| 20 | TEAM SLIDER ENDURANCE | Honda | 02:24.347 |
| 21 | Chromeburner-RAC 41-Honda | Honda | 02:24.369 |
| 22 | PITLANE ENDURANCE – JP3 | Yamaha | 02:24.616 |
| 23 | MOTOBOX KREMER RACING | Yamaha | 02:24.792 |
| 24 | MACO RACING Team | Yamaha | 02:25.195 |
| 25 | Wójcik Racing Team | Honda | 02:25.485 |
| 26 | ADSS97 | Kawasaki | 02:25.656 |
| 27 | MANA-AU Competition | Honda | 02:25.660 |
