TOKYO, Japan, January 22, 2008 -- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced its motorcycle racing plans for 2008, as outlined below.
Honda's spirit of challenge is rooted in its motorsports activities. By constantly striving to fulfill its own dreams and aspirations, Honda aims to share dreams and excitement with its customers.
Honda has set its sights on recapturing the three championship titles for rider, manufacturer and team in the World Championship MotoGP class, the top class of road racing world championship. In addition, Honda is aiming to tackle the challenge of securing the championships in other categories of road racing and in each of the motocross and trials racing series.
Road Races
FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix
MotoGP class
In the MotoGP class of the Road Race World Championship Grand Prix (WGP), Honda plans to race six further refined RC212V MotoGP machines, with the aim of recapturing all three titles in this class. Just as in last season, riding for the Repsol Honda works team will be Dani Pedrosa, who ranked No. 2 in the 2007 season, and Nicky Hayden, the winner of the 2006 series championship who placed No. 8 in 2007.
Team | Rider |
Repsol Honda Team | #2 Dani Pedrosa (Age 22, Spain) #69 Nicky Hayden (Age 26, USA) |
Team San Carlo Honda Gresini | #3 Alex De Angelis (Age 23, San Marino) #56 Shinya Nakano (Age 30, Chiba, Japan) |
JiR Team Scot MotoGP | #4 Andrea Dovizioso (Age 21, Italy) |
LCR Honda MotoGP | #14 Randy De Puniet (Age 26, France) |
250cc class
In the 250cc class, Honda will field two riders and two teams with the RS250RW, aiming for the championship title.
Team | Rider | |
Thai Honda PPT SAG | #14 Ratthapark Wilairot (Age 19, Thailand) |
|
JiR Team Scot 250 | #55 Yuki Takahashi (Age 23, Saitama, Japan) |
MFJ All-Japan Road Race Championship Series
With factory teams allowed to take part in the races from 2007, Honda competed in the JSB1000 class as the works team TEAM HRC. To help reinvigorate road racing in Japan and to further increase opportunities for people to watch and enjoy the races, in 2008, Honda will enter the JSB1000 class as the Dream Honda Racing Team, with the cooperation of Honda Motorcycle Japan Co., Ltd.
Team | Rider | |
Dream Honda Racing Team 11 | #11 Kazuki Tokudome (Age 24, Kagoshima, Japan) |
|
Dream Honda Racing Team 48 | #48 Yusuke Teshima (Age 25, Saitama, Japan) |
In collaboration with Honda Racing Corporation and Honda's technical staff, Honda Motorcycle Japan will also provide support to a number of teams and riders, centered on teams run by Honda dealerships competing in the JSB1000, GP250, GP125, ST600 and GP-Mono classes.
*For the main Honda teams and riders participating in the MFJ All-Japan Road Race Championship Series, please see the reference information.
Motocross races
MFJ All-Japan Motocross Championship Series
The works team TEAM HRC will be vying to capture the championship title in each of the IA1 class (displacement of 450 cc or less for 4-stroke machines) and the IA2 class (displacement of 250 cc or less for 2-stroke machines).
Team | Rider | ||||||
TEAM HRC |
|
In collaboration with Honda Racing Corporation and Honda's technical staff, Honda Motorcycle Japan will also provide support to a number of teams and riders, centered on teams run by Honda dealerships competing in the IA1, IA2, IB2, IB-Open and Ladies classes.
*For the main Honda teams and riders participating in MFJ All-Japan Motocross Championship Series, please see the reference information.
Trials
FIM World Trials Championship Series
For the FIM World Trials Championship Series, Honda will run two Montesa COTA 4RT equipped with 4-stroke engines, with the aim of capturing the rider's title for the second year in a row and our third consecutive manufacturer's title.
Team | Rider | |
Repsol Montesa HRC | #1 Toni Bou (Age 21, Spain) #3 Takahisa Fujinami (Age 28, Japan) |
MFJ All-Japan Trials Championship Series
Honda Racing Corporation will provide support to a number of teams and riders, centered on HRC Club teams belonging to HRC service shops.
*For the main Honda teams and riders participating in MFJ All-Japan Trials Championship Series, please see the reference information.
Reference information
Main Honda teams and riders participating in MFJ All-Japan Championship Series races
In cooperation with Honda Racing Corporation and Honda technical staff, Honda Motorcycle Japan Co., Ltd. plans to hold the Honda Racing Family Circuit Meeting to offer opportunities for Honda riders participating in all-Japan road races and motocross championships to practice riding, as well as advice on physical training. At the venue of each championship, the Honda Racing Family Racing Service will be made available for riders participating in the race, where machine setting by technical staff and advice on riding technique will be provided. In this way, riders' Eracing activities will be properly supported.
Major team/rider for All Japan Road Racing Championship
Team | Class | Bike | Rider | 2007 Result |
Kyubo.com Team HARC-PRO. | JSB1000 | CBR1000RR | Takashi Yasuda | JRR JSB1000 2nd |
Team Sakurai Honda | JSB1000 | CBR1000RR | Choujun Kameya | JRR JSB1000 5th |
MORIWAKI MOTUL Racing | JSB1000 | CBR1000RR | Tatsuya Yamaguchi | JRR JSB1000 7th |
F.C.C. TSR | JSB1000 | CBR1000RR | Takeshi Tsujimura | JRR JSB1000 11th |
Kohara Racing & TSR | JSB1000 | CBR1000RR | Shinichi Ito | JRR JSB1000 18th |
Kyubo.com Team HARC-PRO. | ST600 | CBR600RR | Yoshiteru konishi | JRR ST600 Champion |
Racing Team Honey Bee | ST600 | CBR600RR | Hiroki Noda | JRR ST600 4th |
F.C.C. TSR | ST600 | CBR600RR | Satoru Iwata | JRR ST600 7th |
Burning Blood Racing Team | ST600 | CBR600RR | Makoto Inagaki | JRR ST600 10th |
DyDo MiU Racing Team | ST600 | CBR600RR | Hiromichi Kunikawa | JRR GP250 15th |
Burning Blood Racing Team | GP250 | RS250R | Takumi Takahashi | JRR GP250 2nd |
Team Project μ·EFRS | GP250 | RS250R | Syouya Tomizawa | JRR GP250 8th |
DyDo MiU Racing Team | GP125 | RS125R | Hiroomi Iwata | JRR GP125 Champion |
Team Project μ·EFRS | GP125 | RS125R | Hideyuki Nakajo | JRR GP125 4th |
18 GARAGE RACING TEAM | GP125 | RS125R | Yuichi Yanagisawa | JRR GP125 6th |
TEAM PLUS ONE | GP125 | RS125R | Ryouta Yamada | JRR GP125 7th |
F.C.C. TSR | GP125 | RS125R | Hiroyuki Kikuchi | JRR GP125 8th |
RP Bike & YUE + Promathic-I | GP125 | RS125R | Yoshihiro Takeuchi | JRR GP125 10th |
TEAM PLUS ONE | GP-MONO | GPMR250X | Takayoshi Mori | JRR GP-MONO Champion |
MORIWAKI MOTUL Racing | GP-MONO | MD250H | Yasutomo Nomura | JRR GP-MONO 3rd |
- *GP-MONO racing bikes are made by constructors using CRF250R engines.
- *This information is provisional and subject to change
Major team/rider for All Japan Motocross Championship
Team | Class | Bike | Rider | 2007 Result |
Honda DREAM RT | IA1 | CRF450R | Ryuichiro Takahama | JMX IA1 8th |
TEAM HAMMER | IA1 | CRF450R | Makoto Ogata | JMX IA1 11th |
TEAM BAS with ITOMO | IA1 | CRF450R | Yoshihide fukudome | AMA Entry |
SEKI Racing MotoRoman | IA2 | CRF250R | Kouichi Fukaya | JMX IA2 7th |
SEKI Racing MotoRoman | IA2 | CRF250R | Yuui Hoshino | JMX IA2 15th |
TEAM BAS with ITOMO | IA2 | CRF250R | Toshiki Tomita | JMX IA2 24th |
SEKI Racing MotoRoman | IA2 | CRF250R | Hayato Deguchi | JMX IB-OPEN 3rd |
TEAM HAMMER | IA2 | CRF250R | Hikaru Matsushita | JMX IB-OPEN 5th |
Team HSF | IA2 | CRF250R | Yasuhiro Iinuma | JMX IB2 5th |
SEKI Racing MotoRoman | Ladies | CRF150R | Haruna Masu | JMX Ladies 2nd |
Honda DREAM Tarumi & BMC | Ladies | CRF150R | Izumi Yamamoto | JMX Ladies 5th |
- *Ladies (Max engine displacement: 2st/85cc, 4st/150cc)
- *This information is provisional and subject to change
Major team/rider for All Japan Trial Championship
Team | Class | Bike | Rider | 2007 Result |
HRC CLUB TEAM MITANI | IAS | RTL260F | Tomoyuki Ogawa | JTR IAS Champion |
HRC CLUB Power Craft | IAS | RTL260F | Taichi Tanaka | JTR IAS 4th |
HRC CLUB Power Craft | IAS | RTL260F | Kazuhiro Onishi | JTR IAS 9th |
HRC CLUB TEAM MITANI | IAS | RTL260F | Takeshi Ogawa | JTR IAS 10th |
HRC CLUB TEAM MITANI | IAS | RTL260F | Fumihiko Komori | JTR IA 2nd |
HRC CLUB TEAM MITANI | IAS | RTL260F | Hideaki Mitani | JTR IA 3rd |
- | IA | RTL260F | Motoharu Honda | JTR IA 5th |
HRC CLUB Kantou SW Maruyama | IA | RTL260F | Kenji Takeya | JTR IA 6th |
HRC CLUB TEAM MITANI | IA | RTL260F | Yuuto Tanaka | JTR IA 8th |
- *This information is provisional and subject to change
Main Honda teams and riders participating in the World Superbike (WSB) Championship and the World Supersport (WSS) Championship, with support provided by Honda Motor Europe Ltd.
Taking part in the World Superbike (WSB) Championship as members of private teams supported by Honda Motor Europe Ltd. (HME), Honda's overseas subsidiary, will be Ryuichi Kiyonari, winner of consecutive series championships in the British Superbike (BSB) Championship in 2006 and 2007, and Shuhei Aoyama, competitor in the 250cc class of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix until last year and third recipient of the Honda Racing Scholarship, which was started in 2004 as a scholarship for fostering young Japanese rider talent. Also competing in the WSB as members of an HME-supported team are Carlos Checa, 2007 MotoGP participant as a member of a satellite team and Suzuka 8hours World Endurance Championship Race participant as a member of a works team, and Kenan Sofuoglu, far ahead of other riders as the runaway winner of the World Supersport (WSS) Championship in 2007.
Jonathan Rea, who last year took the No. 2 spot in the BSB Championship behind champion and teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari will compete in the World Supersport (WSS) Championship, riding a CBR600RR as a member of the same team as Kiyonari, who will enter the WSB as already mentioned.
Major team/rider for World Super Bike Championship (WSB)
Team | Class | Bike | Rider | 2007 Result |
Hannspree Ten Kate Team | WSB | CBR1000RR | Ryuichi Kiyonari | BSB (British Superbike) Champion |
Hannspree Ten Kate Team | WSB | CBR1000RR | Carlos Checa | MotoGP 14t |
Hannspree Ten Kate Team | WSB | CBR1000RR | Kenan Sofuoglu | WSS Champion |
Alto Evolution Honda Racing | WSB | CBR1000RR | Shuhei Aoyama | WGP 250cc 12th |
Alto Evolution Honda Racing | WSB | CBR1000RR | Luca Morelli | WSB 22nd |
Hannspree Althea | WSB | CBR1000RR | Roberto Rolfo | WSB 8th |
Team DFX Honda | WSB | CBR1000RR | Karl Muggeridge | WSB 16th |
Team DFX Honda | WSB | CBR1000RR | Russell Holland | AUC (Australian Superbike) 6th |
- *This information is provisional and subject to change
Major team/rider for World Super Sports Championship (WSS)
Team | Class | Bike | Rider | 2007 Result |
Hannspree Ten Kate Team | WSS | CBR600RR | Jonathan Rea | BSB (British Superbike) 2nd |
Hannspree Ten Kate Team | WSS | CBR600RR | Andrew Pitt | WSS 17th |
Hannspree Althea | WSS | CBR600RR | Gianluca Nannelli | WSS 13th |
Hannspree Althea | WSS | CBR600RR | Tommy Hill | WSS 22nd |
Hannspree Stiggy | WSS | CBR600RR | Robbin Harms | WSS 7th |
Hannspree Stiggy | WSS | CBR600RR | Joshua Brookes | WSS 28th |
- *This information is provisional and subject to change