The 2025 World Endurance Championship kicked off this weekend at Le Mans with the 48th edition of the 24 Heures Motos. The F.C.C. TSR Honda France team finished in 8th position after demonstrating its performance and consistency in extremely tricky conditions which caused chaos throughout the race and resulted in over 120 crashes.

The weather at Le Mans did not spare the 53 teams at the start of the 2025 24 Heures Motos, the kick-off to the FIM EWC season, offering the 71,200 spectators in attendance numerous twists and turns.
At 3pm on Saturday 19th April, Corentin Perolari, the first rider to take the handlebars of the #5 Honda CBR1000RR-R, got off to a great start from 6th on the grid and quickly climbed up to 2nd position, while the wet conditions on the Bugatti circuit saw many of his rivals go off track. Alan Techer took over from him and put his endurance experience to good use, putting the #5 Honda in the lead thanks to a very solid stint.

The early part of the race alternated between drying track conditions and showers, making tyre choice and maximum concentration crucial to getting the best out of the race. As he started his very first stint in particularly difficult conditions, Taiga Hada crashed out without causing any major damage to the bike. He temporarily retained the lead, but an intervention by the technical team during the following refuelling pit stop dropped the F.C.C. TSR Honda France back to 3rd place. The Japanese rider was caught out again during his first night stint. This time it took the technical team ten minutes to carry out the repairs, enabling the two French riders to take turns at the race lap record (1.41.468 for Corentin Perolari, bettered by Alan Techer who went under 1.40 as the track dried out), demonstrating the performance of the team and the riders.
Their efforts throughout the night earned the team 6 championship points as they crossed the 8-hour mark in 5th position. Thrown into a fierce battle for the podium, Corentin Perolari crashed out in the early hours of the morning after setting another race lap record of 1.37.847. Two pit stops saw F.C.C. TSR Honda France drop back to 8th in the standings, giving the team an extra 3 points after 16 hours of racing.

With the track now completely dry, the lap times dropped for the whole field, making it harder for the Franco-Japanese riders to get back up to the front, although they did their utmost to close the gaps.
An alert with a few drops of rain less than 3 hours from the finish and a heavy shower two hours later added a little more confusion to the end of the race. The two French riders were unable to avoid crashing out during their final stints, without losing any positions in the rankings thanks to the lead they had built up through their efforts.

So Alan Techer crossed the chequered flag in 8th place at the end of an elimination race marked by a record number of crashes.
Thanks to its consistency, the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team leaves Le Mans in 7th position in the championship with 26 points.
The 8 Hours of Spa Motos, the next round of the 2025 EWC season, will take place in Belgium on June 7, 2025 at the Spa Francorchamps circuit and will offer the #5 Honda another opportunity to regain victory.

In the Honda clan, there was also a fine performance from the National Motos Honda FMA team, which took victory in the Supertock class.

Fuji San – team manager

“It’s a tough race! But that’s the race, and as in life, we never give up. We’ll try again. There are very positive things and we’ve crossed the chequered flag once again with Honda France! Thank you very much!”

Alan Techer – rider

“The race wasn’t easy, but what I’ll take away from it are the many positive points. Last year, we didn’t score any points. Today, I think we proved our potential. From the start, Corentin set an excellent pace despite the mixed track conditions. After that, I managed to bring the bike back and we were in the lead after the toughest first 2 hours. The other big positive point is that Corentin and I set a very good pace overnight, despite the fact that we were only racing together from 10pm to 7am. We showed that the bike was fast, that the team was performing well and I think that was reflected in the times. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get the result we wanted, but I think we’ll be even stronger for the next race at Spa.”

Corentin Perolari – rider

“DFrom the start in the rain I knew how to be careful and I brought the bike back without making any mistakes, which Alan also did. Taiga was a little slower and during the night we double stinted with Alan. We had a good pace with the slick tyres despite the damp patches. We were super quick at night and throughout the race. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes at the end. But that’s what happens in racing and there are positive things for the rest of the championship. It was a negative race in terms of the result, but positive in terms of the pace and everything we showed on track and in the pits. Alan was very quick at Spa last year and I love this circuit so we should have a good race.”

Taiga Hada – rider

“It was a very difficult race because the grip on the track changed a lot. I had to deal with conditions that I wasn’t familiar with and it was easy to crash. First it started to rain while I was on slick tyres. The second time, the track had dried out and I crashed with very worn rain tyres. I’m really sorry for the team and my team-mates. It was a very complicated race. I’m now concentrating on the next race at Spa.”