2014 Oschersleben 8 Hours Results
Honda Racing achieved its debut win Sunday in the FIM Endurance World Championship, taking a flag-to flag victory at the Oschersleben 8 Hours in Germany.
With Julien Da Costa, Sébastien Gimbert and Freddy Foray at the controls of the CBR1000RR Firblade, the British Team was able to take the victory ahead of Yamaha Racing GMT94 and Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki, respectively.
With the win, the Factory Honda team earned 35 points, climbing to fourth in the EWC points race. With one round remaining – the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Sept. 20-21) – Yamaha Racing GMT94 leads Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki by 21 points.
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, Honda reports.
At 5 p.m., while Sebastien Gimbert was on the bike, heavy rain began to fall, forcing all teams to pit early and change to full wet tires. 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 6:45 p.m.with just over an hour remaining, Honda reports.
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, Honda reports.
Taking third was Yamaha Racing GMT94 (David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines), with Team Bolliger Switzerland Kawasaki (Horst Saiger, Roman Stamm and Daniel Sutter) in third.
2014 Oschersleben 8 Hours Winner Quotes:
Julien Da Costa says: “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 says: “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 says: “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!”
2014 Oschersleben 8 Hours Results:
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 |