The Honda TT Legends completed the first qualifying sessions for the final round of the 2011 Endurance World Championship in ninth place today. The 8-hours of Doha will take place at 13.00 (AST) on Saturday 12 November.

Regular riders John McGuinness and Keith Amor are joined in Qatar by former Honda BSB rider Glen Richards, who was drafted in at short notice to cover for Cameron Donald after he injured his wrist falling on a flight of stairs. Each rider did 30-minutes apiece in warm but windy conditions at the Losail International Circuit, with Richards lapping fastest of the three.

The combined times of the Honda TT Legends put the team in ninth place on the provisional grid for Saturday’s race. The riders will complete night practice this evening ahead of the final qualifying sessions tomorrow morning.

Neil Tuxworth – team manager

To be quite honest as long as we qualify in the top ten I’m happy. I’ve never put a lot of importance on qualifying position at an endurance event as it’s more about what you do over the eight hour race than it is about where you start. We’ve seen some good times from our riders today considering two of them have never ridden here before and the other one is straight off the back of a 15-hour flight from Australia. I’m sure we’ll improve a little tomorrow, but even if we end up in ninth I’ll be more than happy.

John McGuinness

First qualifying is over and we’re all in one piece. I was out first and did the fastest I’ve done so far so I’m pretty happy with that. The track is very difficult and it’s a long way round but it’s becoming more enjoyable as we become more familiar with it. You’ve just got to be patient going into the corners, wait and look for the apex then try and fire it off the corner. It’s a nicely flowing, smooth track and it suits my style. We’ve got night practice tonight and if we can manage to go a little faster tomorrow I think we’ll be in the hunt for a good result.

Keith Amor

I’m starting to learn my way around here now. That last session I was a lot happier, a bit faster and more confident on the bike. Hopefully tomorrow I can find a little more time and a little bit more confidence and we’ll see what happens.

Glen Richards

It’s actually gone really well today. I had a feeling it would because I really like the race track here and even though I haven’t ridden this actual bike before, I’ve been riding the CBR1000RR model for the last three years so I’m very familiar with it. On top of that, the Dunlop tyres suit my riding style really well so all in all I’ve been able to adapt pretty quickly. I feel at home with the team as it partly the old Phase One team I rode for in ’07 and partly the Honda team I rode for in ’09 so I know everybody. It’s nice and I’m really enjoying myself.

Championship standings

1 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 90 pts SUZUKI Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
2 BMW Motorrad France 99 81 pts BMW BMW Motorrad France 99
3 Team SRC Kawasaki 63 pts KAWASAKI Team SRC Kawasaki
4 Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone 46 pts YAMAHA Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone
5 YMES Folch Endurance 39 pts YAMAHA YMES Folch Endurance
6 Monster Yamaha-YART 38 pts YAMAHA Monster Yamaha-YART
7 Bolliger Team Switzerland 36 pts KAWASAKI Bolliger Team Switzerland
8 Honda TT Legends 30 pts HONDA Honda TT Legends
9 F.C.C. TSR Honda 30 pts HONDA F.C.C. TSR Honda
10 Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team 24 pts SUZUKI Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team
11 Maco Racing 23 pts YAMAHA Maco Racing
12 National Motos 22 pts HONDA National Motos
13 TRT 27 City Bike 21 pts SUZUKI TRT 27 City Bike
14 MuSashi RT Harc-Pro 19 pts HONDA MuSashi RT Harc-Pro
15 Team R2CL 17 pts SUZUKI Team R2CL
16 Team Dunlop Motor 15 pts SUZUKI Team Dunlop Motor
17 Eva RT Test Type-01 Trickstar 13 pts KAWASAKI Eva RT Test Type-01 Trickstar
18 Crown Keibihosyou Racing 12 pts HONDA Crown Keibihosyou Racing
19 Teluru HoneyBeeRacing 10 pts HONDA Teluru HoneyBeeRacing
20 Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance 10 pts SUZUKI Motobox Kremer Racing by Shell Advance
21 Motoplanete Racing Team YAM 74 8 pts YAMAHA Motoplanete Racing Team Yam 74
22 Infini Team Power Bikes 8 pts KAWASAKI Infini Team Power Bikes
23 Team FMA Assurances 7 pts HONDA Team FMA Assurances
24 TOHO Racing Hiroshima Desmo 7 pts DUCATI TOHO Racing Hiroshima Desmo
25 Slider Endurance 7 pts YAMAHA Slider Endurance
26 SH Technologie SCR 7 pts BMW SH Technologie SCR
27 Honda Sud Ouest 04 Spirit 6 pts HONDA Honda Sud Ouest 04 Spirit
28 Honda Escargot&PGR&SAYAM&H-Tec(E) 6 pts HONDA Honda Escargot&PGR&SAYAM&H-Tec(E)
29 Ridez & Panolin 5 pts HONDA Ridez & Panolin
30 TMS Racing 4 pts SUZUKI TMS Racing
31 RAC 41 4 pts YAMAHA RAC 41
32 Honda SuzukaRacing Team 4 pts HONDA Honda SuzukaRacing Team
33 Slick Team 49 3 pts SUZUKI Slick Team 49
34 Team Shinsuke 2 pts HONDA Team Shinsuke
35 Team Tras 1 pts BMW Team Tras
36 Sport Passion Endurance 1 pts SUZUKI Sport Passion Endurance
37 Winner Z-Tech 0 pts SUZUKI Winner Z-Tech
38 Track Team Zone Rouge 0 pts YAMAHA Track Team Zone Rouge
39 Team38 PS-K 0 pts KAWASAKI Team38 PS-K
40 Team-Hashimotogumi 0 pts SUZUKI Team-Hashimotogumi
41 Team Sugai Racing Japan 0 pts APRILIA Team Sugai Racing Japan
42 Team Okayama Trouble Tribe 0 pts HONDA Team Okayama Trouble Tribe
43 Team M II R 0 pts SUZUKI Team M II R
44 Team Frontier CWR 0 pts YAMAHA Team Frontier CWR
45 Team Etching Factory 16 0 pts YAMAHA Team Etching Factory 16
46 Suzukacommunity Racing Team 0 pts HONDA Suzukacommunity Racing Team
47 Plus One MCRT 0 pts KAWASAKI Plus One MCRT
48 Motokids.Nirinkoubounerugaru . YSP Mitaka 0 pts YAMAHA Motokids.Nirinkoubounerugaru . YSP Mitaka
49 Motokids.CSS.Kawauso RT 0 pts YAMAHA Motokids.CSS.Kawauso RT
50 La Bellezza Speed&Wild7 0 pts DUCATI La Bellezza Speed&Wild7
51 Honda Ryokuykai Kumamoto Racing 0 pts HONDA Honda Ryokuykai Kumamoto Racing
52 Honda QCT Meiwa Racing 0 pts HONDA Honda QCT Meiwa Racing
53 Honda EG Racing 0 pts HONDA Honda EG Racing
54 Honda Dream RT Wakayama 0 pts HONDA Honda Dream RT Wakayama
55 Honda Blue Helmets MSC 0 pts HONDA Honda Blue Helmets MSC
56 Honda All-Honda Joint Team of Company 0 pts HONDA Honda All-Honda Joint Team of Company
57 Hokkaido Sabeder 0 pts YAMAHA Hokkaido Sabeder
58 GreenTec/Toukai.A/Y amasina.K/Business.R 0 pts KAWASAKI GreenTec/Toukai.A/Y amasina.K/Business.R
59 Dog House Drag with Kota 0 pts SUZUKI Dog House Drag with Kota
60 Confia H.M.F 0 pts APRILIA Confia H.M.F
61 Clubnext&Nakamura eng 0 pts HONDA Clubnext&Nakamura eng
62 BullDocker TAGOSxHalumoto Showhei Ride 0 pts APRILIA BullDocker TAGOSxHalumoto Showhei Ride
63 Banner Racing 0 pts DUCATI Banner Racing
64 Arrow Tree . Pleasing&O-Tec Suzuka Racing 0 pts HONDA Arrow Tree . Pleasing&O-Tec Suzuka Racing
65 Adrenatem Esprit M 0 pts SUZUKI Adrenatem Esprit Moto