In 2020, Honda will continue to compete in top-tier motorcycle and car racing events around the world, including participating in various races worldwide. All personnel involved in Honda’s sports racing activities, including athletes, engineers, mechanics, and other team members, will work as a “Team Honda” and compete with their utmost efforts.
Motorcycle Activities
In the 2019 season, Honda won championships in the FIM Grand Prix World Championship, FIM Motocross World Championship, and FIM Trial World Championship.
In the 2020 season, Honda will compete alongside other manufacturers as a member of the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and strive to win championships for the second consecutive year in all three categories – road race, motocross, and trial. Additionally, similar to the previous season, HRC’s racing team is participating in the Dakar Rally, with the race being held from South America to Saudi Arabia this year.
In the MotoGP category of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship, Marc Márquez, a 6-time world champion and 4-time consecutive champion in 2019, will welcome his younger brother, Alex Márquez, the reigning Moto2 champion in the 2019 season, to compete for the Repsol Honda Team. With new members, Honda will strive to win the “Triple Crown” in the MotoGP for the fourth consecutive year.
In the FIM Superbike World Championship, Honda will compete with its new factory racing team named HRC, with riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam, using the newly developed CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP.
In the MFJ All-Japan Championship, Honda will compete in the highest categories, including the Road Race Championship (JRR), Motocross Championship (JMX), and Trial Championship (JTR). Honda will aim to win championships in Motocross and Trial and reclaim the Road Race championship, thereby winning the MFJ All-Japan Championship in all three categories for the first time since 2017.
In addition, Honda will continue to develop young riders. In motorcycle racing, in collaboration with Honda’s racing activities in Asia, where motorcycle racing is gaining attention and developing rapidly, Honda is working together with young riders in this region to fulfill their dreams of competing in MotoGP. In the 2020 season, Honda will continue to support the Honda Team Asia to compete in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories of the MotoGP. Furthermore, to support the increasingly competitive young riders, Honda will continue to support the riders competing in the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship. Additionally, Honda will continue to use the IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup (IATC) to encourage young riders to discover their potential and elevate the level of many other riders who can compete in world-class races.
For off-road racing, Honda will continue to organize training sessions in Japan for the team’s riders competing in the MFJ All-Japan Motocross Championship. Additionally, Honda will continue training programs for promising young riders to participate in training camps and compete in MXGP races worldwide.
Car Activities
In the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1), Honda serves as the engine supplier and won three races in the 2019 season. In the 2020 season, Honda will strive to win more victories by continuing to supply engines with the same technical specifications to the Scuderia AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing teams.
Furthermore, Honda will continue to support young Japanese racers competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship (F2) and French F4 Championship organized by FFSA.
In Japan, Honda will aim to regain the championship in the prestigious races by using the all-new NSX-GT model in the GT500 category of the SUPER GT, a category that will enforce new technical regulations in the 2020 season. At the same time, Honda is also changing the structure of the competing teams in the SUPER FORMULA Championship, a Japanese championship.
In customer racing events, in categories that use vehicles developed from mass-market models outside the market, Honda will increase the challenge by not only providing engines but also enhancing support for the teams to compete more competitively.
Honda will provide the racing model CIVIC Type R and CIVIC TCR for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), which is a race that started in 2018 and is a popular series worldwide. Additionally, Honda will provide the NSX GT3 Evo model in the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) – a race held on five continents as well as other GT championships and endurance races organized in North America, Asia, and Europe.
In North America, through Honda Performance Development (HPD), Honda will supply engines to 5 teams with a total of 13 cars competing in the IndyCar Series.
Trang Nguyen (forum.autodaily.vn)
