The 76th annual Bol d’Or began today with 55 teams taking to the Magny Cours circuit in France for the first of two qualifying sessions. The combined times of the Honda TT Legends riders sees the team in 11th place on the provisional grid for the opening race of the 2012 Endurance World Championship.

After a day of changeable weather conditions, the four 30-minute sessions went ahead on a dry track but under threatening black clouds. The rain held off as Cameron Donald, John McGuinness, Gary Johnson and Simon Andrews headed out one-by-one in an attempt to set the fastest lap possible.

Simon Andrews posted the quickest time for the Honda TT Legends, ending the final session of the day at the top of the timesheet. In accordance with EWC rules, the times of the fourth rider do not count towards the average qualifying time, therefore it is the combined times of McGuinness, Donald and Johnson that place the team 11th fastest.

The riders will take part in a night practice session this evening ahead of the final qualifying sessions at 10.40 (CET) tomorrow morning.

John McGuinness

I'm a little disappointed as I think we are better than 11th on the grid. I had a few little problems in my session and there was a lot of traffic, so it was hard to get laps in on a clear road. Grid position is not massively important here. When the race comes along we have to keep the bike on its wheels for 24 hours and hopefully we won’t be far away.

Cameron Donald

It was a frustrating session due to a lot of traffic. I’ve been quicker around here before so I know there is more to come. It’s a good start. It would be nice to finish a bit higher up tomorrow so I’m sure we can all work hard and improve to bump up a few positions for the race.

Gary Johnson

That was a very busy session. There were a lot of yellow flags and a lot of crashes that caused some confusion. I didn’t get any clear laps at all but I enjoyed it and hopefully tomorrow I can get some clear track and improve on my times. I’m going in the right direction and getting quicker with every session.

Simon Andrews

I feel happier on the bike, so it’s going well. It’s a progression and we’re changing bits and pieces on the bike and getting faster with every session. Things are going in the right direction so hopefully we’ll be able to keep up a good race pace.

Follow the Bol d’Or live on Motors TV or FIM-TV.com on Saturday 14 April from 10.20 to 11.30 and 14.30 to 22.00 and Sunday 15 April from 10.30 to 15.30. Live timing will be available on FIM-LIVE.com from 14.30 on Saturday 14 April.



2012 Bol d’Or schedule

Friday 13 April

10.40 – 13.10 Second qualifying (30 minutes per rider)


Saturday 14 April

10.30 – 11.15 Warm-up

15.00 Race begins


Sunday 15 April

15.00 Race ends

.