Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview
February 13 2015 - 4:48AM
JCN Newswire (English)
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced its 2015 motorsports strategy
and initiatives for expanding the popularity of motorsports.
Since the days of its founding, Honda has always tackled the
challenge of competing in motorsports events around the world,
using the races as a springboard for the company's growth by
testing, refining and proving the worth of its original
technologies on the global stage. Under its corporate slogan of
"The Power of Dreams," Honda aims to satisfy the expectations of
its customers by putting more power behind its motorsports
activities, so that through racing it can bring fun, joy and
excitement to people across the globe.
1. Motorsports Strategy
Motorcycle activities
In the MotoGP, the premier class of the FIM*1 Road Racing World
Championship Grand Prix Series, Repsol Honda, a Honda factory team
will again put forward the lineup of Marc Marquez, who was the
champion for the second year in a row last season, paired with Dani
Pedrosa who won 4th place, aiming to win the three titles for the
third season running.
Based on a desire to satisfy the expectations of many customers and
fans as a manufacturer of motorcycles in all categories, Honda is
determined to raise its commitment to the four categories of road
racing, motocross, trials world championships, and the Dakar.
In the premier MXGP (450 cc) class of the FIM Motocross World
Championship Series (MXGP), Honda will again compete with its Team
HRC factory team. Evgeny Bobryshev will now be joined by Gautier
Paulin, who ranked eighth in the MXGP in the 2014 season.
In AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship held in the U.S.,
Honda has reinforced its team structure this season through
technical support from Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and the
Motorcycle R&D Center of Honda R&D Co., Ltd., with the aim
of capturing the title.
In the FIM Trial World Championship Series (WCT), three riders will
compete: Toni Bou, crowned as champion for an unprecedented eight
years in a row, Takahisa Fujinami, the only Japanese rider in WCT
racing, and Jaime Busto, the WCT World Cup Class champion. The
Honda team has their eyes on a ninth straight riders' championship
and tenth straight manufacturers' championship.
Team HRC factory team competed in the Dakar 2015
Argentina-Bolivia-Chile in January. Paulo Goncalves placed second
overall, and Laia Sanz came in ninth overall, the highest ranking
ever for a female rider in the race.
HRC does not limit its racing activities to ones focusing on the
pinnacle races, but also works on sales of commercial racing
machines. The RC213V-RS commercial racer will be supplied to four
riders in three teams in the Open Category, and the Dakar Rally
machine CRF450 Rally has already been put on the market. HRC will
continue to launch motorcycles based on factory machines, which
will help expand the popularity of these vehicles.
Automobile activities
Honda will participate this season in the FIA(2) Formula One World
Championship as a power unit supplier for the McLaren Honda team,
which will enter two machines driven by Fernando Alonso and Jenson
Button. McLaren Honda aims to win the dual titles of drivers' and
constructors' championships.
In the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), Castrol Honda
World Touring Car Team, a Honda factory team, will again feature
Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro as the drivers in this third
season of full-year participation. Among private teams, in addition
to Zengo Motorsport, competing in its third season, Nika Racing
will be supplied with Honda cars for the first time. Honda aims to
capture the dual titles of drivers' and manufacturers'
championships.
In the GT500 class of the SUPER GT Series, Honda will compete with
its NSX CONCEPT-GT equipped with a 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder
direct injection turbo engine and a racing hybrid system, in its
attempt to recapture the dual title of drivers' and team
championships with its five teams and five machines. In the GT300
class, Honda will continue its support for AUTOBACS RACING TEAM
AGURI, supplying them with a racing hybrid system, in cooperation
with M-TEC Co., Ltd.
In the Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Series, Honda will
supply the HR-414E, a 2.0-liter, inline, 4-cylinder direct
injection turbo engine, to nine machines raced by five teams. Using
this engine with greater power, Honda aims for the dual titles of
drivers' and team championships.
In the IndyCar Series, Takuma Sato, now in his sixth season, will
again compete for A.J. Foyt Racing.
2. Developing world-class talent
Honda is proactively working on various programs to foster racers
who can be active worldwide.
Through a wide range of programs, Honda has actively taken on the
challenge of fostering racing talent who can compete at the global
level.
In road racing, Honda aims to help young riders tackle the
challenge of competing in the Road Racing World Championship Series
races and realize their dreams, through links with Honda's racing
endeavors in the Asian region that has seen a rapid rise in
enthusiasm for motorcycle racing. With the aim of fostering future
GP race rider talent, Honda continues its active support of the
Asia Dream Cup (ADC), part of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship
Series (ARRC) for selecting riders from countries in the Asian
region including Japan, and of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup
(SAATC) hosted by Dorna Sports, S.L., which also hosts MotoGP.
Honda also supports the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World
Championship, the destination for riders stepping up from the ADC
and SAATC, and the team activities of IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia
towards competition in the Moto2 class of the FIM Road Racing World
Championship Grand Prix.
In motocross racing, Honda continues to host training camps in
Japan for team riders competing in the MFJ All-Japan Motocross
Championship Series, and also conducts a program for fostering
talent by providing opportunities for young riders with future
potential to join a training camp in the U.S. and compete in MXGP
races.
Beginning this season, Nobuharu Matsushita, the champion in the
2014 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Series, will compete for the
racing team ART Grand Prix in the GP2 Series(3), recognized as a
gateway to the F1. Honda's participation in the GP2 Series is a
part of the company's project for turning out more Japanese F1
drivers. Through collaboration with McLaren Racing, Honda will
create more opportunities to encourage Japanese drivers to succeed
on a global scale.
3. Motorsports Promotion Activities
Honda has actively developed programs to expand the popularity of
motorsports, including a diversity of activities undertaken to
communicate the appeal of motorsports to a broad spectrum of fans
around the world. These activities complement the company's
programs for developing motorcycle and automobile racing talent
with a variety of events that can be enjoyed in a casual
setting.
To offer riders with no prior experience in racing an opportunity
to casually take part in races to enjoy the fun and excitement, HRC
holds one-make races such as the CBR250R Dream Cup and the NSF100
HRC Trophy. Starting this year, the HRC NSF250R Challenge races
will be held using the NSF250R, a road racing model widely
available on the market.
As for automobile activities, Honda will hold a participatory
motorsports program called the N-ONE OWNERS' CUP in its second
year, which is a one-make race using a mini vehicle, N-ONE. A total
of ten races will be held in six locations across Japan.
Honda Eco Mileage Challenge(4), an event for competing in how far
the participants can travel on one liter of gasoline, will mark its
35th year in 2015. These fuel-efficiency competition events have
been held not only in Japan but in other countries such as
Thailand, China and Vietnam as well.
Notes:
(1) FIM: Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme
(2) FIA: Federation Internationale de l'Automobile
(3) The GP2 Series is a category positioned as a gateway to the F1.
GP2 Series races are held internationally, mostly in Europe, as
support races for F1. Past GP2 Series champions have moved on to
further success at F1.
(4) The event name was changed to Honda Eco Mileage Challenge
starting in 2010.
About Honda
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (TSE:7267/NYSE:HMC) is one of the leading
manufacturers of automobiles and power products and the largest
manufacture of motorcycles in the world. Honda has always sought to
provide genuine satisfaction to people worldwide. The result is
more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries worldwide,
producing a wide range of products, including motorcycles, ATVs,
generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment and
automobiles that bring the company into contact with over 19
million customers annually. For more information, please visit
http://world.honda.com.
Source: Honda
Contact:
Honda
Media Inquiries
corporate_pr@hm.honda.co.jp
+81-3-5412-1512
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