The Honda TT Legends team will leave the Suzuka 8-Hour with a top ten finish under its belt having done exactly what it came to do – complete the toughest race of the year well within the points and maintain second place in the Endurance World Championship standings.

With the very clear aim of a safe and steady race, the team and its rider line-up of John McGuinness, Cameron Donald and Jason O’Halloran battled through the incredibly hot and humid conditions to put in yet another smooth and trouble-free performance. The ABS-equipped Honda Fireblade did not miss a beat, meaning the crew and riders were able to complete the scheduled pit stop strategy of three stints per rider without fault.

In comparison, many of the top teams suffered throughout the 8-hour battle, among them fellow EWC contenders SERT, YART and BMW Motorrad France 99, who all encountering problems. While SERT and BMW were able to rejoin the race and salvage championship points, YART were forced to retire.

After a nail-biting last hour, the final line-up saw the Honda TT Legends place tenth to pick up 29 points, leaving the team second in the overall EWC standings, just five points behind SERT. The race was won by F.C.C TSR Honda with Kousuke Akiyoshi and Honda World Superbike's Jonathan Rea on board. Rea becomes the first-ever British rider to stand on the Suzuka 8-hour podium.

Russell Benney - team manager

We’ve held on to second place in the world championship, and not only that, we have closed the gap on our closest rival SERT, who suffered some problems in the race. We had another smooth run and the softly, softly approach has paid off. We take a strong second position in the championship to the next round at Oschersleben, where we hope to compete at full gas for the best result possible.

John McGuinness

Last year we didn’t get past the first hour so to finish this year is a great achievement. To come here with no testing, race against some of the best endurance riders in the world and come tenth is great. It’s been a tough old day, but I’m pleased. I did three stints with no mistakes and I really enjoyed the race to be honest. It was red hot but it was great. The team did a good job, the ABS and everything on the bike worked like a dream and overall it’s a fantastic package. We’ve scored some valuable points and with two rounds to go we’re in a good position.

Cameron Donald

Mission accomplished! I’m stoked with our result and it’s all the sweeter after coming here last year and not finishing. It was a long way to come to go home with no points. It’s been a massive effort from the whole team this week in unbelievably hot conditions. Everyone has worked so hard and the job we came to do is done.

Jason O’Halloran

Overall a good day on the bike. John and Cameron did a great job and I just tried to stay as consistent as I could. It’s a case of working your way through the traffic because there are a lot of bikes out there and as the stints go on everyone gets more tired and it gets a lot harder. The last stint was really hard while my best and most consistent was my second. The team have done a great job again, we turned up here without testing and I think we have done really well in the time we had available. Tenth is a great result.

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