The F.C.C. TSR Honda France, deprived of Mike di Meglio, qualifies in 2nd position for the 8 Hours of Spa Motos 2024, whose format has been revised and the start scheduled for Saturday June 8 at 1pm.

・Class / FORMULA EWC ・Machine / HONDA CBR1000RR-R Fireblade
・Spa-Francorchamps circuit (Belgium)
・Result / Overall Qualifying Classification / 2nd
・Blue Rider / HOOK Joshua / 02:19.176 　・Red Rider / TECHER Alan / 02:19.278

The F.C.C. TSR Honda France team is gearing up for the second round of the 2024 FIM EWC season, which will see the format changed from 24 to 8 hours of racing. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium will therefore host the event of the 8 Hours of Spa Motos from 7 to 8 June 2024.

Currently 11th in the overall standings with 5 points, the Franco-Japanese team, which finished 2nd in this event last year, is hoping to return to the front at the Belgian circuit after retiring from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first race of the season. But Frenchman Mike Di Meglio, the usual rider of the #5 Honda, is out of action following an injury that occurred in the French championship last weekend. Josh Hook and Alan Techer are therefore ready to take on the challenge of completing the 8-hour race together.

Another new feature of the 2024 edition was that the 37 crews entered took part in the two qualifying sessions organised on the same day, Friday June 7, on the technical 6.985km track located in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes.

Australian Josh Hook started the first part of the qualifying session at 1.55pm in dry and sunny conditions. He set the 2nd fastest time on his Honda CBR 1000RR-R Fireblade in 2.19.176, just two-tenths off the leader. When it was his turn, Alan Techer put in the same performance with a very close time of 2.19.482.

At the end of the afternoon, most of the riders took to the track again for the second part of qualifying. In similar conditions, the times did not change much and Josh Hook remained in the pits after his very good time in the previous session. Alan Techer, meanwhile, improved his time slightly, setting the fastest lap of the session with a time of 2.19.379.

The Franco-Japanese team, F.C.C. TSR Honda France, achieved a time of 02.19.278 based on the average of the two fastest times after all the qualifying sessions, and will therefore start the race in 2nd position. This gives the team a further 4 points in the overall world championship standings.

■Josh Hook　- rider
“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.”

■Alan Techer　- rider
“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.”

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