Honda Motor Europe has launched an all-new motorcycle racing
team for an assault on FIM Endurance World Championship and to contest selected
road-race meetings, bridging the gap between the two disciplines. The Honda TT
Legends team will compete on the legendary Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade machinery
in the 2011 FIM Endurance World Championship, together with world famous
road-race meetings such as the Northwest 200 and the Isle of Man TT. Honda TT
Legends encompasses the greatest endurance races in the world, on road and on
track and represents a new challenge for 3 already very accomplished and
extremely popular riders.
The team will comprise TT legend, John McGuinness – winner of
no fewer than 15 races around the demanding Isle of Man TT course, and second
only to former Honda hero, the late, great Joey Dunlop. The Morcambe-based
McGuinness, 38, is a former British 250cc champion and also has experience with
Honda in the World Supersport championship. But it is for his remarkable
exploits and consistency at the Isle of Man TT – including the first 130mph lap
of the 37.73-mile (60.37km) Mountain Circuit – that he is most renowned.
McGuinness will be joined in the new Honda team by Steve Plater, who was British
Supersport champion with Honda in 2009, to contest the full 2011 FIM Endurance
World championship. Plater also has a great deal of experience in Endurance
World championship racing, including victory in the Albacete 6 Hour. The
40-year-old Englishman has also scored podium finishes at Le Mans, the Bol d’Or
and competed at the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan. The English duo
will be joined by Scotsman Keith Amor for 24hr endurance races at Le Mans and
the Bol d’Or. The 30-year-old Scot, who is a roads specialist, has two TT
podiums, and a Northwest 200 victory to his name. Alongside McGuinness, he will
also contest selected road races, under the banner of Honda TT Legends. However,
Plater will concentrate solely on the FIM Endurance World Championship series.
The Honda TT Legends team will be run from Louth in
Lincolnshire – the same UK base that operates Honda (UK)’s British Superbike
championship team and managed by the experienced former TT and endurance racer,
Neil Tuxworth.
John McGuinness
I did the Le Mans 24 hr race about seven years ago,
when we finished eighth. It was exciting at the end but pretty hard work in the
middle! But I’m really looking forward to a full season. I was a little
surprised when we first started talking about it but when Honda explained the
thinking behind it, it floated my boat straight away. I’ve raced in a lot of
classes over the years, and of course I’ll continue with the Northwest and the
TT, but to be in a team capable of winning a world championship can’t be bad! I
still get the buzz of anticipation and nerves jangling on the roads, and I
certainly want to win more TTs before I finish. And I’m really excited about the
idea of a British round of the Endurance World championship at Donington – we
really want the British fans to get behind us and to give endurance racing more
kudos in the UK. If everything goes to plan, we’ll be there or thereabouts –
there is no reason why we can’t do the business!
Steve Plater
I’ve been riding in the World Endurance championship
for something like 12 years and finished runner-up twice so it’ll be good to go
back there and win it with a good team! I won’t be doing any road racing next
year – that’ll just be John and Keith – but I’ll still be involved with the team
and helping wherever I can. I wanted to concentrate on the endurance side of
things for 2011 and it’s great that Honda Motor Europe has come in to explore
and this side of racing too.
Keith Amor
It’s certainly going to be a challenge combining the
roads with World Endurance racing, but I think it’ll be fun and I can’t wait to
get going. There’ll be some new tracks to learn, and I’ve never done any
endurance racing before so there’ll be a lot to take in. But I rode for Honda on
the roads last year and there’s really no better team in the paddock. It’s a
huge opportunity for me to be more involved with Honda and the TT Legends World
Endurance team, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Neil Tuxworth, Team Manager
The idea of this team came from Honda Motor Europe, who
wanted to promote the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade in another class at world
championship level. TT riders are older, more experienced and generally safer,
which is what you want in endurance racing – you need to keep that little bit in
reserve. The bikes will be different, too, for the roads and WEC, where
reliability becomes an issue, as well as speed. We’re particularly excited about
the British round at Donington, where there will be a real festival atmosphere.
Robert Watherston, Manager Motorcycle Sport, Honda Motor
Europe
Great World Endurance events and great road race
meetings hold the same sense of festival – big, one-off events which attract
people not just to watch the racing but to enjoy the whole sense of occasion.
The TT Legends name invites people to look back at Honda’s great heritage of
road racing and put it in the context of the present. Honda’s main promotional
asset has always been racing, going right back to that first race at the TT, and
the first win, whose 50th anniversary we will celebrate next year. Racing the
Fireblade is an important element of the team’s identity because of the unique
heritage and iconic status of the machine in itself.
PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
...YOU REALLY WANT A KAWASAKI, DON'T
YOU?
From the first time I met them many years ago, I've never considered the team at
Alf's Motorcycles a typical
dealer team but much more - a "biking family", if you wish. If I ever considered
a Kawasaki, they would be the people I would go to to buy and service my pride
and joy. As I've always maintained, there are some people out there who deserve
personal recommendations which are worth SO much more than any paid-for
advertising...and Alf's is a prime example.
I'd still pass the bike over to Hans Peter Bolliger for his
Bolliger Team replica paint, though :)
***
HOTEL LA RENAISSANCE - MAGNY COURS
UPDATE - Chef Jean-Claude Dray has left and it's now another couple who are in
charge of the kitchen. For me, not as good as 2006...but for co-commentator
Roger Bennett, much better!...plus ça change!...still a very hearty
recommendation.
HOTEL LA RENAISSANCE
***
The next time you're in the French town of Nevers for any
of the race meetings at Magny Cours, both myself and co-commentator Roger
Bennett cannot recommend highly enough the Pizzeria Italia
Chez Michel at 19, Rue Vert-Pre 58000 NEVERS. Everytime we go to Magny
Cours, you'll find us having dinner there. The food is outstanding, the
atmosphere great and the waitresses are efficient - and highly decorative. No
website but the telephone number is 03 86 59 23 03 (France, of course).
***
I've been a little
remiss in putting in an extra-very-special mention for one of the best
suspension guys in any racing paddock...ONE OF THE BLACK MAGICIANS OF
RACING SUSPENSION
Email:
Zweitze Rooske
