Long-serving EWC team National Motos Honda wants payback

Long-serving team National Motos Honda heads into the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship ‘motivated by revenge’ following its late-race Bol d’Or heartache last season.

Swiss brothers Sébastien and Valentin Suchet, plus Frenchman Guillaume Raymond, were on course for the Superstock category victory – and the FIM Endurance World Cup for Teams’ title – at Circuit Paul Ricard last September. That was until a technical fault struck in the final 25 minutes of the 24-hour race, robbing them of double delight.

But the outfit, an offshoot of a successful Honda motorcycle dealership network based in La Défense, a commercial district of Paris, is determined to bounce back during what will be its 53rd season in endurance racing.

Stéphane Haddadj, who runs National Motos Honda along with his brother and Eric Collin, the team’s Technical Manager, said: “We head into this new season of the FIM Endurance World Championship with a motivation of revenge on 2023 following the cruel and frustrating end to the Bol d’Or. But we also head into the new season with a great respect for the sport and our competitors in the Superstock category, particularly with many teams also racing the Honda CBR1000RR.”

As well as giving the opportunity for its riders Guillaume Raymond and Sébastien and Valentin Suchet, National Motos Honda will again work in close collaboration with l’INCM, the Institut National du Cycle et du Motocycle (National Institute of Cycle and Motorcycle). The long-standing partnership gives students the chance to gain practical experience by working as part of the National Motos Honda team during race weekends.

National Motos Honda will continue to shine a spotlight on the work of ARSLA, which helps those suffering from Charcot’s disease.

Other key partners include Bendy’s, Dunlop, Motul, Onair, 011ze, Honda Assurance FMA and Honda Moto France.

“This adventure is also and above all a human and passion adventure with our crew of pilots, our volunteers and the students of the INCM,” Haddaj said. “But without our partners this season would not be possible.”

Despite its Bol d’Or setback, National Motos Honda finished a close runner-up to Team 33 Louit April Moto in the FIM Endurance World Cup for Teams, in which all outfits use Dunlop tyres, the official supplier. The undoubted highlight of National Motos Honda’s 2023 campaign was its Superstock category victory in the 24H SPA EWC Motos last June.

And it didn’t leave the Bol d’Or empty handed after it was presented with the prestigious Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy, awarded at EWC events in tribute to Frenchman Delhalle. He won the Bol d’Or in 2011 and featured in an FIM Endurance World Championship title-winning line-up five times – but lost his life in a testing accident at the start of 2017 season.

The 47th edition of the 24 Heures Motos opens the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship season from 18-21 April. Ticket information is available HERE.