Despite the team’s maiden outing at the Suzuka 8-hour race coming to an early end today, the Honda TT Legends will leave the Japanese circuit with their heads held high. John McGuinness, Keith Amor and Cameron Donald came to the notoriously tough event as rookie riders yet still qualified in the top 20 in a field of expert contenders. All three put in maximum effort to get to grips with the highly technical track and the challenging conditions in the team’s development year.

An issue with the endurance-specific pentagon rear wheel drive system forced the Honda TT Legends to retire after two and a half hours – a difficult decision made with the safety of the riders in mind. McGuinness, Donald and Amor each did a stint on the bike in soaring temperatures of over 35 degrees, and while they are disappointed not to have finished, they can certainly be proud of what they have achieved.

The team will now take just a week’s break before heading to its next road-racing event. The Ulster GP will take place from 7-13 August with John McGuinness and Keith Amor competing for the Honda TT Legends. The 2011 Endurance World Championship will continue in September with the Le Mans 24-hour.

Neil Tuxworth

We are obviously hugely disappointed not to have finished the race, but the safety of the riders is paramount and therefore we had to make the tough decision to retire. On the positive side, we have learnt a huge amount during our time here. The riders have done an excellent job – probably beyond our expectations. We always knew that this was going to be a difficult race and it has turned out that way, but we leave here with valuable knowledge that can only help us improve for future races.

John McGuinness

It was a real honour to start the Suzuka 8-hour and the majority of my first stint went well. The problem with the endurance-specific rear wheel system kicked in with two laps to go and I had to push the bike back from the hairpin – I was definitely huffing and puffing when I got back! We got back out but unfortunately the issue continued so we had to stop. It’s disappointing but we gave it our all and we have to be proud of that. The conditions here are incredibly tough. Our next stop for endurance is Le Mans so we just have to focus on that.


Cameron Donald

This was my first experience of racing world endurance and I got just over an hour out there on the bike. I can honestly say that I have never been that hot in my life. I was setting some really good lap times and feeling comfortable so it was a shame we had to pull out early. I’ve learnt a lot, the team has learnt a lot and we just have to come back stronger in Le Mans.


Keith Amor

I’m devastated for everyone in the team. I was really enjoying myself out there and I’m obviously really disappointed that I had to come in, but if it is not safe to continue that’s the right decision. Up until that point, the Suzuka experience has been brilliant and I was just starting to get into the race. All we can do is learn from this and improve for Le Mans.


Championship standings

1 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 54 pts SUZUKI Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
2 BMW Motorrad France 99 52 pts BMW BMW Motorrad France 99
3 Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone 35 pts YAMAHA Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone
4 Team SRC Kawasaki 28 pts KAWASAKI Team SRC Kawasaki
5 YMES Folch Endurance 25 pts YAMAHA YMES Folch Endurance
6 Team Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assurances 18 pts SUZUKI Team Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assurances
7 Bolliger Team Switzerland 18 pts KAWASAKI Bolliger Team Switzerland
8 Monster Yamaha-YART 16 pts YAMAHA Monster Yamaha-YART
9 Van Zon Boenig Motosportschool PENZ13 RT 15 pts BMW Van Zon Boenig Motosportschool PENZ13 RT
10 Honda TT Legends 15 pts HONDA Honda TT Legends
11 National Motos 14 pts HONDA National Motos
12 Maco Racing 13 pts YAMAHA Maco Racing
13 Atomic Motorsport 12 pts SUZUKI Atomic Motorsport
14 Metiss JLC Moto 10 pts METISS Metiss JLC Moto
15 No Limits Motor Team 8 pts SUZUKI No Limits Motor Team
16 TRT 27 City Bike 7 pts SUZUKI TRT 27 City Bike
17 MCS Racing - Ipone 7 pts SUZUKI MCS Racing - Ipone
18 AM Moto Racing Competition 5 pts SUZUKI AM Moto Racing Competition
19 Endurance Moto 45 4 pts SUZUKI Endurance Moto 45
20 MCP Starteam 67 3 pts SUZUKI MCP Starteam 67
21 Team R2CL 2 pts SUZUKI Team R2CL
22 Rodi Circuit Alcarras 1 pts YAMAHA Rodi Circuit Alcarras
23 Infiniti Team / Power Bike 1 pts KAWASAKI Infini Team / Power Bike
24 Y D Motos Racing 0 pts KAWASAKI Y D Motos Racing
25 Viltais Racing Division 0 pts YAMAHA Viltais Racing Division
26 Team V-Racing 0 pts BMW Team V-Racing
27 Team R2CL Plus 0 pts SUZUKI Team R2CL Plus
28 Team FMA Assurances 0 pts HONDA Team FMA Assurances
29 Team Dunlop Motors Events 0 pts SUZUKI Team Dunlop Motors Events
30 TMS Racing 0 pts SUZUKI TMS Racing
31 Sport Passion Endurance 0 pts SUZUKI Sport Passion Endurance
32 Slider Endurance 0 pts YAMAHA Slider Endurance
33 Serbian Racing Team - Dijamant 0 pts SUZUKI Serbian Racing Team Dijamant
34 SH Technologie - Scrubs 0 pts BMW SH Technologie - Scrubs
35 Racing Team Sarazin 0 pts KAWASAKI Racing Team Sarazin
36 Qert 0 pts SUZUKI Qert
37 Motoplanete Racing Team YAM 74 0 pts YAMAHA Motoplanete Racing Team Yam 74
38 Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance 0 pts SUZUKI Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance
39 Moto 39 Competition 0 pts KAWASAKI Moto 39 Competition
40 Maccio Racing 0 pts KAWASAKI Maccio Racing
41 MAS 14 0 pts SUZUKI MAS 14
42 DG Sport 0 pts YAMAHA DG Sport
43 Boening PENZ13 RT 0 pts BMW Boening PENZ13 COM
44 Adrenatem Esprit M 0 pts SUZUKI Adrenatem Esprit Moto
45 3 D Endurance Moto Center 0 pts KAWASAKI 3 D Endurance Moto Center