- Nine Spanish riders are outstanding pieces of the high competition of Honda
- Álex Palou, in cars, and Marc Márquez, along with Toni Bou, on motorcycles, are the main assets to repeat Honda’s triumphs in motor racing
Toshihiro Mibe, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., LTD, presented the full potential of Honda in motor racing a few weeks ago to the public. Under the generic acronym of HRC (Honda Racing Corporation), the set of activities that make up the most powerful motor racing team in the world are integrated; with members who are serious contenders for world titles in the elite of motorsports and motorcycling, together with promotional teams geared towards discovering the emerging talents that will reign in the competitions of the future. More than 30 competitions position the Japanese company as a sports benchmark on two and four wheels.
Starting this season, Honda will further strengthen its competitive ability by adding automobile racing activities to Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), which previously operated only motorcycle racing. This will allow the company to promote the mutual collaboration of technologies between the different areas, to increase innovation and consolidate itself as a benchmark brand that “continues to share dreams and exciting and inspiring moments for fans and customers around the world.”
“Since its foundation, Honda has grown thanks to the sum of sporting competition, people and technological innovation,” said Toshihiro Mibe during the presentation ceremony. In this 2022 the company’s efforts will also go through taking on new challenges in sports competition, to make them more sustainable and attractive to all. Thanks to the technologies that are put to the test on the asphalt, new solutions are provided aimed at assuming the neutrality of carbon emissions and the promotion of electrification.
Spanish accent in the main Honda world tests
Up to nine Spanish riders will be part of Honda’s top competition gear. Álex Palou in cars and Marc Márquez, together with Toni Bou, in motorcycles, are the most outstanding leaders to repeat Honda’s triumphs in the competition.
Regarding automobile competitions, during the 2022 season, based on the request made by the Red Bull Group, HRC will support Red Bull Powertrains, supplying the power unit that uses Honda technology to the Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri teams. . As a result of this collaboration, the new HRC logo will be visible on the single-seaters of both teams.
In this way, the single-seater of the current world champion, Max Verstappen, will continue to have the support of Honda. Max is Honda’s first F1 drivers’ champion since Ayrton Senna won the title in 1991. As Verstappen’s squire, Mexican Sergio (Checo) Pérez, after signing a superb season at Red Bull, will put the “Spanish” accent ” in the team to beat in the premier category of four wheels.
Beyond F1, Honda will make every effort to revalidate the IndyCar title won by Álex Palou in 2021. A key competition in which Honda supports 6 teams and 17 Honda-powered cars. On the other hand, the role played by the Civic TypeR -which will also incorporate the HRC logo- that competes in the WTCR with drivers such as the Portuguese veteran Tiago Monteiro together with the young Attila Tassi and the Argentines Esteban Guerrieri and Nestor Girolami.
On two wheels Honda wants to resurface in a big way. Marc Márquez, recovered from his injury, will try to achieve his seventh MotoGP world title. The tests carried out in Sepang and Malaysia invite optimism and indicate that the Hondas of Marc Márquez and Pol Espargaró are serious candidates for the final victory. For his part, Àlex Márquez will continue to wear the colors of the LRC Honda team with which he will take advantage of all the opportunities in the championship.
Toni Bou will continue to compete to overcome the barrier of 30 world trial titles, accompanied in the team by the young Galician rider Gabriel Marcelli and under the baton of Takahisha Fujinami, who makes his debut as Team Manager of the Repsol Honda team with the Montesa COTA 4RT as the best weapon.
In the Superbike World Championship, two other Spanish riders, Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge will compete for the title at the controls of the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. In the Motocross World Championship (MXGP), the young rider from Vigo Rubén Fernández will continue defending the colors of the Honda 114 Motorsport team, this time in the premier category in all the tests, where he will be able to demonstrate his great projection in the category .
In addition to all these disciplines, HRC will continue to participate in the most prestigious international competitions such as the Dakar Rally, the World Endurance Championship and the USA Motocross and Supercross Championships.
In addition, in 2022 the Japanese company will also focus on the development of new pilots. The Suzuka circuit driver school will become the Honda Racing School to train new talent in the world of motorsport. Collaboration between the motorcycle and car categories will increase the quality of the development programs in each category. An example is the collaboration between Honda and Red Bull to send young drivers to compete in the FIA F2, F3 and F4 categories.
