Tannir is confident Honda will power him to Sportbikes glory

Kenny Laurie 14:26 12/03/2014
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  • New wheels: Tannir gets Honda boost.

    Two-time reigning UAE Sportbikes champion Mahmoud Tannir plans to plot a takeover of leader Abdulaziz Binladen now that he has his new Honda underneath him for the remainder of the season.

    The Lebanese rider has struggled so far this season, by his own lofty standards, falling behind Binladen thanks in part to difficulties with his old Triumph.

    Last weekend saw Tannir ride for the first time on his new Honda and the Lebanese was able to bag two second-placed finishes.

    The rider admitted he couldn’t have been happier with his new wheels.

    “Basically, we were very busy preparing the new Honda CBR600RR to be ready on time for this weekend’s race,” said Tannir. “The support from the guys at Al Futtaim Honda has been really incredible so far.

    “For the race, we knew that we could not be fully competitive as we had only tested the bike twice and realised there is a lot of work to do, but we understood we have what it takes to fight for a podium finish. And so we did by finishing second in both races over the weekend.

    “That was a very good result considering everything is new, from the bike to suspension and so on, but the team has worked so hard to get everything ready on time and I was very pleased with the initial setup and know we can build on this.”

    Last year, Tannir trailed for much of the season before launching a late comeback and winning his second-straight title. This year he is hoping history will repeat itself.

    Despite Binladen’s superb riding this season, his lead remains slim at the top and Tannir is confident of catching now that he has a bike he can rely on.

    “For the championship, we are now second and trailing Abdulaziz by only 10 points, so its not a big difference and we still have four races to go – that’s 100 points max for the first spot,” added the Lebanese rider.

    “Everything is possible, but our aim now is to improve our feeling with the bike quickly and also work more on the suspension setup and the fuelling.”

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