EWC: FCC TSR Honda win frantic Le Mans 24 hour

F.C.C TSR Honda made history this weekend as they became the first Japanese team to win the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour race.

The squad, formed by Freddy Foray, Alan Techer and Josh Hook, crossed the line a lap ahead of British-based Honda Endurance Racing to take the win after 24 hours on track.

It was an impressive ride from the #111 Honda in second as they’d slipped back to a dismal 38^th place early in the race after suffering from an electronic issue. However, effective pit-stops and smooth riding from Gregory Leblanc, Sebastian Gimbert and Erwan Nigon saw them fight back through the field to take to the podium.

Crossing the line third were BSB stars Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon, riding alongside former 125cc GP racer Danny Webb, taking the WEPOL by Penz13 BMW to podium glory. It wasn’t an easy ride for the all-British line-up as both Laverty and Webb slipped off during the race. Laverty was unscathed but Webb dislocated his shoulder, and while he tried to ride again he’d end up sitting out the last few hours of the race.

The Kawasaki-mounted Bolliger Team Switzerland were fourth home with Roman Stamm, Robin Mulhauser and Sebastian Suchet ahead of SRC Kawasaki, who had led the race in the early stages before a crash followed by a radiator problem saw them fall down to the bottom of the rankings. Pushing on, the squad’s trio of riders, Randy de Puniet, Mathieu Gines and Jeremy Guarnoni pushed hard to make it back to the top five by the end of the race.  

It was a tough race for Yamaha with both the GMT94 and YART squads suffering big crashes during the race. Long-time race leaders GMT94 dramatically crashed out on Sunday morning. The uninjured David Checa was able to push the YZF-R1 back to the pits for repairs, but they’d rejoin in 11^th place some 19 laps behind the leader, making up just one place by the end of the race to finish tenth.

YART weren’t so lucky, however, with Marvin Fritz tucking the front on a heavily worn front tyre. While the Austrian squad were able to re-build the bike, they retired from the race.