Honda supports Team HRC in 2014 Rally Season
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced from the Aoyama Head offices, in Tokyo, its 2014 motorsports strategy and initiatives for expanding the popularity of motorsports with Cross-Country Rallies one of the key categories.
In his annual global motorsports address today, which outlined all of Honda’s factory motorsport programmes for 2014, Honda President Takanobu Ito announced that Honda is determined to raise the commitment to the Rally Team.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) will be active not only in top-level racing of this caliber but also in the promotion of commercially available racing machines. HRC plans to launch the CRF450 Rally from the Dakar by the end of this year. Through these actions, Honda aims to provide equivalent machines or near-twins of its factory team machines to more and more customers, as part of its efforts to further expand the popularity of motorcycle racing.
The Team HRC factory team competed in the Dakar 2014 Argentina-Bolivia-Chile this January. Three of the five team riders arrived to the end of the toughest and most challenging off-road race in the World: Helder Rodrigues finished in 5th place, Joan Barreda in 7th place, and Javier Pizzolito in 23rd. Team HRC won 6 of the 13 stages of the race. For the 2015 rally, Honda’s racing strategy including its riders will be announced as soon as it is determined.
Barreda and Rodrigues were present in Tokyo, appearing alongside Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa (MotoGP), Evgeni Bobryshev and Max Nagl (Motocross) and other Honda riders from different Japanese championships and drivers from IndyCar and World Touring Car Championships.
(To read Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s full 2014 motorsports strategy announcement, go here: http://world.honda.com/news/2014/c140207Motorspor…)
More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC):
Honda 2014 Motorsports Overview
In his annual global motorsports address today from the Aoyama Head offices in Tokyo, Honda President Takanobu Ito outlined Honda’s factory motorsport programmes for 2014.
Since the days of its founding, Honda has always considered racing as a key driving force, tackling motorsports challenges across the globe and achieving a wealth of victories along the way, whilst using racing as an experimental plot for technologies that would sow the seeds of the company’s overall growth. The racing spirit fostered in this process is alive today in all of Honda’s products and technical development. Honda’s corporate slogan is “The Power of Dreams.” Honda will realise these dreams together with its customers by putting more power behind its motorsports activities so that through racing it can bring fun, joy and excitement to more people around the world.
In MotoGP, the premier class of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Series, Honda took the “triple crown” by taking all three titles last season—the riders’, team, and constructors’ Championships. For 2014, HRC’s factory outfit, the Repsol Honda Team, will once again put forward the lineup of Marc Marquez, who made history last year as the youngest champion ever in his very first season of MotoGP competition, paired with Dani Pedrosa who took 3rd place. In addition to its factory team, two satellite teams will be equipped with machines supplied by Honda, for a total of three teams and four riders representing Honda in the MotoGP.
HRC will be active not only in top-notch racing of this caliber but also in the promotion of commercially available racing machines. The RCV1000R, which will be raced by four riders representing three different teams in the new MotoGP Open category, will be put on the market by HRC.
More, from a press release issued by PETRONAS FIM Asia Road Racing Championship Press Office:
HONDA ANNOUNCES ASIAN LINE-UP
Honda Motor Co. Ltd announced its 2014 motorsports strategy and initiatives for expanding the popularity of motorsports on February 7. The extensive list covered many disciplines of motorsports and includes the names Honda’s Asian riders for the PETRONAS FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.
Honda will have a total of five teams in the Asian series in 2014. For the Malaysian-based MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing Team, Malaysian rider Mohd Zamri Baba is the latest addition to the team’s three-man squad. Makoto Tamada returns for yet another season of the ARRC as well as the team’s developmental rider Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi.
Thailand boasts of two teams – AP Honda Thailand represented by Peerawat Wongthananon and Jakkrit Swangswat and Thai Honda racing will see Ratthapong Wilairot partnering up with former 2000 and 2002 ARRC GP125 Champion Suhathai Chaemsap.
From Indonesia, Astra Honda Racing will be fielding 2013 Suzuka 4-hour Endurance Champion Dimas Ekky Pratama and Denny Triyugo Laksono.
The list also included T. Pro Yuzy Honda which will feature Tomoyosi Koyama, Satoru Iwata, and Malaysian rider S. Sasitharen.
Additionally, the list announced that Honda will be sending three Japanese riders for the 2014 Asia Dream Cup which runs concurrently with the Asia Road Racing Championship. These three young riders are Reitoku Kurogi, Shunya Mori and Teppei Nagoe. Shinya Nakano will also return to the ADC as the programme’s official trainer and coach for the young riders.