Honda TT Legends aim to finish season on a high in Qatar
Wednesday 09 November 2011
TT
The Honda TT Legends’ inaugural Endurance World Championship season comes to a close with the final battle of the year, the 8 hours of Doha, taking place on Saturday at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
John McGuinness, the 17-times TT winner, will again line-up alongside fellow TT star Keith Amor. TT winner Cameron Donald was due to ride, but has been ruled out with a wrist injury and has been replaced by Britihs short circuit star Glen Richards.
The Honda TT Legends team has been on a steep learning curve during its development year in the championship, but has scored impressive results, including finishing in the top five in both the Bol d’Or and Le Mans 24-hour races.
The team is determined to end the season on a high.
Team Manager Neil Tuxworth said:
“This is the final race of what has been a very enjoyable season. We have learned an incredible amount as a team and I would hope that in Qatar all the work we have done over the season can be put in to practice.”
“There are a lot of factors to take into account, but if everything goes in our favour I think we are capable of getting on the podium. It would be nice to move up in the championship a little bit. The highest we can finish is sixth and that would be a great achievement for our first year in EWC.”
“I’m feeling confident that we can end of the year with a really good result.”
McGuinness added:
“It’s been a real year of firsts for the team and Qatar is no exception. Losail looks like a great track and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”
“We came into the championship with very little experience in endurance racing and I think we can be proud of what we’ve achieved. There have been some highs and lows, but it’s been enjoyable. Hopefully we can do well at Qatar and finish on a high.”
Teammate Amor said:
“I am really looking forward to riding at Losail – it’s another new track for me and it’s somewhere I have always wanted to ride. It looks like a really fun circuit. I’ve been doing lots of laps on my games console and it’s brilliant on that so hopefully it will be as good in real life!”
“Now that we’re coming to the end of our first season, it feels like it’s gone really quickly, but it’s certainly been a good one. We have learned so much and will continue to learn in Qatar.”
Confirming Donald will not be able to compete and has been replaced by Richards, Mr Tuxworth said:
“We are obviously very disappointed that Cameron will not be racing in Qatar this weekend. The good news is that Glen has been able to step in at short notice and is on his way from Australia now. Looking on the positive side, Glen has ridden at the Losail Circuit before, finishing second here in an endurance race, and he has good experience on the Honda Fireblade having won the 2011 BSB Evo Championship on the bike, so he should be a strong addition to the rider line-up.”