National Motos Honda might not have been able to repeat its Superstock podium heroics of last year’s FIM Endurance World Championship opener, but the Paris-based team still left Le Mans with plenty of reason to be satisfied. 

Riders Guillaume Raymond, Sébastien Suchet and Valentin Suchet were in contention for a podium finish in the Dunlop Superstock Trophy and FIM Endurance World Cup when a crash on Sunday morning resulted in a non-finish for the #55 Honda after 583 laps of running in the 24 Heures Motos.

“After many hours of battle for the podium in the Superstock category, the race stops for our team on Sunday morning after a crash,” National Motos Honda posted on Facebook. “Despite the disappointment of the end result, the performance of the Honda CBR1000 RR and riders are up there, with the ability to fight for the top places in our category in this challenging race”.

Prior to the start of the 24 Heures Motos, customers and supporters of National Motos Honda set off on a road trip from its motorbike dealership in the La Défense business district of Paris to Le Mans.

National Motos Honda is run by brothers Stéphane Haddadj and Eric Collin and entered endurance motorcycle racing in 1971 through the efforts of their father, Pipo Baldit, a former racer.