HMC Honda Motor Co Ltd

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
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