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Honda Racing completes pre-season testing

The Honda Racing team has completed its final pre-season test at Magny Cours in France in preparation for the 2014 Endurance World Championship, which begins with the Bol d'Or 24-hour at the same circuit in just over three weeks time (26/27 April).

The team was blessed with warm and dry weather during the two-day event, giving the all-new rider line-up of EWC experts, Julien Da Costa, Freddy Foray and Sebastien Gimbert, plus reserve rider Jason O'Halloran, plenty of time to get to grips with the 2014 Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine.

With a full schedule of 9am to 5pm track time and 450 laps completed, the team was able to work on fuel strategy and tyre selection, as well as finding a good set-up to suit all riders and achieving consistency in lap times. The Magny Cours test completes an extensive pre-season programme that has seen the Honda Racing team travel to Mireval, Albacete, Aragon and Cartagena as it steps up its EWC campaign in a bid to secure the 2014 title.

Julien Da Costa
I feel very good after this test. I was saying to Neil earlier, I feel so at home on the bike already.It is speaking to me like we are a couple - we are like a man and a woman! The bike is veryeasy to ride and we have made a lot of improvements throughout the testing programme. Wehave a very good basic set-up and we've done a lot of fuel and tyre testing. Now we are able tolook forward to the race and we can use the practice sessions during the Bol d'Or week to focuson getting the set-up right for the conditions. We can definitely say that we have all done a goodjob!

Freddy Foray
I think we have done a good job over the last few weeks. The bike has been great from day one and the feeling has improved day by day. The lap times of all the riders are consistent with each other, which is very important for endurance racing. It is difficult to make a plan for the first race because it's 24-hours, but we have a good foundation and if we can improve even more during the week before the race, I think we have a good chance.

Sebastien Gimbert
My feeling after the testing is good because our lap times are consistent with each other and the bike is going very well. I'm really happy because the whole team has worked really hard to give us a good bike. We've done a lot of testing and now I'm looking forward to the season beginning. I want to push for the race - we're ready.