Honda TT Legends to Run Stand-ins for Doha Endurance Race

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Honda’s team TT Legends has a very peculiar name, and for a good reason too. The racers that make the team are really and truly the legends of the one race that is usually referred to as the TT – and it is the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. The team competes in the road racing inferno of the United Kingdom, but they also compete in the FIM World Endurance championship. Because the TT racing week is still on with the final racing day postponed for Saturday and with the TT Legends concentrated on winning the holy grail of the TT – the senior TT race, no one has left to run the new ABS equipped Fireblade on the hot tarmac of Doha, Qatar. Well of course not. The backup TT Legends are Michael Laverty, Jason O’Halloran and Ryuichi Kiyonari. They are prepping hard for the demands of the eight-hour race.

Ryuichi Kiyonari:
“Yesterday was a good day and we managed to do a lot of laps on the superbike. I am racing a 600 in the Asia Road Racing Championship at the moment so it was good get used to the big bike before the official qualifying. I have raced here at Qatar before but never in endurance and I am looking forward to doing an endurance race outside of Japan. I’m very happy to be working with the team and I hope we can bring them a good result.”

Michael Laverty:

“This is the first time I have ridden at Qatar and it’s my first time on the TT Legends bike so it was good to get time to familiarize myself with both. We just bedded in gently and felt our way around and now I feel comfortable to make some changes to improve ahead of the race. It’s all looking good so far and if we can keep the ball rolling we should be on the pace.”

Jason O’Halloran:
“We spent yesterday really just getting to know the circuit. It’s my first time here and my first time racing in heat like this. Considering all of that and the fact that it’s also a new team and a new bike for me, it all went really well. I feel like I’ve got a good grasp of the track and all three of us had similar comments on the bike set-up, so we’ll make improvements where we can and look forward to the race on Saturday.”

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