Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

Even though racing tracks are quiet, stands are empty and the smell of hotdogs and popcorn are gone, we haven’t forgotten the recent heydays of live racing action, thrills, chills and spills on the raceway! Where speed is king and dreams come alive. Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday! Relive 60 years of GrandPrix racing with TMW and Honda Dreams while we visit racing legends like Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden, Joan Mir and Marc Marquez… Memory lane is a wonderful thing in times of crisis. This week’s Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins will bring back a lot of memories!

 

A Ride down the Empty Racetracks of Tomorrow

Honda’s arrival at the World Cup was the result of painstaking preparation work. Before attending the Grand Prix, Soichiro Honda, founder of the company and alma mater of the corporation, submitted his ideas to deep reflection. After visiting the Tourist Trophy in 1954 to find out the level of the other manufacturers present in the championship, he realized that he needed to conceptually renew his technology. He entrusted the design of his new racing bike to two young engineers, Tadashi Kume and Kimio Shimmura, under the supervision of Kiyoshi Kawashima, head of the design section, who was also in charge of the team’s sports management, and years later. would become president of Honda Motor.

 

The base of work for that first Grand Prix motorcycle was a two-cylinder, four-stroke engine with light pistons and connecting rods, which could reach a high speed of rotation to achieve adequate power . The lightening of many elements that were usually reinforced to ensure its durability, was a concept promoted by Soichiro Honda, which was based on a Japanese proverb: “A large tree cannot resist the force of the winds, but a thin and flexible bamboo does You can do it . 

Another detail of special interest to Soichiro Honda was the combustion. The new engine was subjected to a study to check if the energy generated in the combustion was used to the maximum, discovering that a lot of unburned hydrocarbons was emitted, which reduced the efficiency of the engine. It was an innovative study that no manufacturer had considered until then . His combustion research altered the design of the combustion chamber, adopting the use of four-valve cylinder heads, which is truly unusual for smaller 125cc and 250cc bikes.

After much testing work in Japanese competitions, such as the Asama Race and the Mount Fuji, races that bore little similarity to the tests taking place in Europe, Honda debuted in the 125 World Championship, presenting five bikes at the Tourist Trophy in 1959. These were four units of the Honda RC142, a twin-cylinder with double overhead camshaft and four-valve cylinder head, and six-speed gearbox. The fifth was an earlier version of this, the RC141. The engine offered 18 HP of power at 13,000 rpm. Despite the inexperience of its riders, who were competing outside Japan for the first time, Naomi Taniguchi took sixth place, just ahead of Giiichi Suzuki and Teisuke Tanaka. Junzo Suzuki was eleventh, and with these results Honda won the constructors’ trophy.

In 1959, the RC142 was the first model Honda competed with in Europe. It is a 4T 125cc twin cylinder with two cylinders, 8 valves and double overhead camshaft capable of reaching 13,000 rpm, quite a technological challenge for the time.

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

The sixties

Back in Japan, work in the design department increased. A new 250 motorcycle, the RC160, was developed, with four cylinders and 16 valves, which reached a power of 35 hp. Only two months after his debut in the TT, Honda would achieve absolute victory in the Asama Race with the RC160, led by Sadao Shimazaki.

In 1960 Honda finally landed at the World Cup with its new bikes. The RC143 (125 cc) was an evolution of the bike used the previous year in the Isle of Man, the cylinders had been tilted slightly forward to improve the cooling, reaching 23 hp already. The RC161 was a four-cylinder, 16-valve 250, which rotated at 13,000 rpm and reached 40 hp. The team continued to count on its squad of Japanese riders, who added an important and valuable group of western riders, who contributed the experience and knowledge of the tracks required to achieve a great result. Honda had Tom Phillis, Jim Redman and Rob Brown as reinforcement, but the first podium in the championship was won by Kenjiro Tanaka, third in the 250 race of the German GP.

With the RC161, Honda added Tom Phillis, Jim Redman and Rob Brown, drivers familiar with the European circuits with whom Honda would start chaining one victory after another in the World Speed ​​Championship. The RC161 stands out for a 4-cylinder, 16-valve engine with a gear train distribution, a feature that would adopt the different evolutions of RC models.

Honda’s evolution in the championship was progressive. In 1961, his bikes were already competitive enough to win races at 125 and 250. In fact, Tom Phillis would be proclaimed champion at 125, and Mike Hailwood at 250. But also, the list of riders who added victories multiplied. Along with Phillis and Hailwood, future champions Kunimitsu Takahashi, Jim Redman, Luigi Taveri and Bob McIntyre won races with Honda, which also claimed the manufacturers’ title at 125.

During the 1960s the hit list multiplied. From 1961 to 1967 Honda pilots won 15 titles. Between 1962 and 1967, Honda played 25 manufacturer championships, from 50 to 500cc, and added 18 titles , achieving a historic milestone in 1966 that no brand has managed to match : achieving victory in all categories. Since then Honda has shown what has been a constant throughout its history: its extraordinary ability to develop a wide range of models.

The variety and richness of Honda’s technology was unmatched by other manufacturers, regardless of category. From the small and sophisticated RC116, the nine-speed 50 cc twin cylinder, whose specific power reached 280 hp / liter, capable of turning above 21,000 rpm , something almost unimaginable in a time when there were no titanium springs or pneumatic valves, up to the powerful RC181, the 500 four-cylinder.

On the left the wonderful 4-stroke 50cc twin cylinder capable of turning at 21,000rpm. On the right, another work of Honda engineering, the 125cc 5-cylinder engine, both with the central gear distribution system.

During that period Honda technologically evolved its bikes in all categories, with an assortment of configurations that no other brand was able to offer. In 1966 Honda had a 50cc twin cylinder; a five-cylinder 125; six-cylinder engines in categories 250 and 350; and a powerful 500 cylinder cylinder that yielded 85 hp in its first version.

 The competition came from the Japanese manufacturers, such as Suzuki in 50 and 125, and Yamaha in 125 and 250, who had also opted for multi-cylinder configurations, but in this case on two-stroke mechanics, while in the higher categories, MV Agusta, With its 350 and 500 three- and four-cylinder engines, it held stiff competition with Honda.

Without a doubt, of all this technology, the most famous engine is the famous six-cylinder, which was fitted by the Honda 250 (RC166) and 350 (RC174). Precisely on the basis of the 1967 297cc RC174 engine, Soichiro Irimajiri developed the spectacular six-cylinder Honda CBX 1000, in a demonstration of how competition is an excellent working base for developing series models.

After eight intense seasons, in February 1968 Honda made a stop at its presence in the Motorcycle World Cup to undertake new objectives in the field of motorsports. In addition, the new regulations approved at the World Cup were to limit the number of cylinders from 1970, which would have prevented the development of various projects conceived by Honda designers to renew their GG.PP models. with a new range of technological solutions in various displacements. The era of technological splendor gave way to a new stage, in which Honda was not going to be present. But it was not a goodbye, but a see you soon.

Mike Hailwood and the legendary 250cc 6-cylinder RC166, one of the most successful pairings in Honda’s history in the GG.PP.

 

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

The return in 1982

Before Honda’s official return to the championship in 1982, an absolutely innovative project was developed. Honda had left the World Cup, but not the competition. Building on his four-cylinder CB750 engine, he developed an excellent endurance racing model, the RCB 900, with a four-valve DOHC cylinder head, allowing Honda to dominate the championship from 1976 to 1980. But the Grand Prix remained the focus of everything.

In 1977, the management of the competition department commissioned Soichiro Irimajiri to develop a 500 Grand Prix, which would debut two years later. It was the Honda NR500, a completely revolutionary motorcycle that broke with the technology of the time, which at that time was marked by the mastery of “two-stroke” engines. The NR500 had an oval piston “four-stroke” V4 engine. It had eight-valve cylinder heads and rotated above 15,000 rpm, reaching with its subsequent evolutions up to 135 HP of power at 19,500 rpm . Its particular configuration offered a greater combustion area, and in theory its performance could be the equivalent of a V8. But if the engine was revolutionary in itself, the cycle part was not far behind: monocoque chassis, 16 ”wheels, inverted fork …

His presence in the championship was intermittent until 1982. In 1980 the design had to be modified by banning oval pistons, and he switched to using a multi-tube chassis instead of the monocoque.

In the following years it evolved, and although the NR500 did not obtain outstanding results, it became a source of knowledge for Honda engineers for the future. From 1982 Honda put into production its VF models, with V4 engine, which in its sports version took part in the Formula TT World Championship. On this basis, the successful F-TT1 RS1000W, the RVF750 endurance and F-TT1 were developed, and later the Superbike RC30 and RC45, all of them with an outstanding and notable record. The knowledge gained from the short but intense development of the NR500 was crucial to the success of the later developed four-stroke engines.

The NR500 became a veritable tech lab with which Honda faced the 2-stroke machines that dominated the 500 Mundal. With the oval piston configuration, Honda sought maximum thermodynamic efficiency while working at high rpm ranges. to develop more power.

Finally, in 1982 Honda confirmed its return to the World Speed ​​Championship with its first GP motorcycle with a “two-stroke” engine. It was the Honda NS500, a light and manageable motorcycle with a V3 engine, which stood out for its agility and acceleration capacity . For the first time, Honda was working with two-stroke engines, a technology that dominated the competition of Suzuki and Yamaha, the most powerful brands at that time in the 500 World Cup. On its return to the championship, Honda presented an official team consisting of three drivers: the brand new champion of the category, Marco Lucchinelli; the experienced Takazumi Katayama, who had worked on the development of the NR500; and the young American promise Freddie Spencer.

In the hands of Freddie Spencer, the NS500 added its first victory that same season, and the following year the North American pilot was crowned 500 champion and Honda also took the constructors’ title. The effectiveness of the NS500, despite being less powerful than its competitors, was fully exploited until a design change was necessary to fight equally. Right away, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), the structure created to take over the brand’s competition department, defined the next step in the evolution of its Grand Prix motorcycle: the NSR500, with a V4 engine.

It is not easy to innovate and succeed the first time. The first NSR500, which came to light in 1984, featured striking new features: a double girder swingarm, exhausts protruding above the engine, and the tank under it, carbon fiber wheels, in addition to careful aerodynamics, with the aim of lower its center of gravity and improve its maneuverability. The engine was already really powerful and offered excellent top speed compared to the NS500. But a series of technical problems and an injury to Spencer ruined his options.

HRC redoubled efforts to offer a completely new bike in 1985, tackling the challenge of racing two categories at once. He modified the first version of the NSR500 and entered the 250 category with the new NSR250, which was essentially like taking an NSR500 and breaking it in half. The development and tuning of the 500 was complex and not without difficulties, and to this we had to add the collaboration with Michelin for the development of the first radial tires, which was carried out in parallel with the work on tuning the motorcycles. . In those days it was when they began to talk about a phenomenon that is most common today: chattering. The radial tires offered a grip superior to that of the diagonals, transmitting a vibration from the rear to the front, which was a new challenge for pilots and technicians.

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

 

The NS assumed Honda’s first entry to the World Championship with 2T technology and a V3 engine configuration with which Freddie Spencer was proclaimed world champion. The evolution of the NS500 would fall on the V4-powered NSR500 with which Honda would exercise absolute dominance in the category.

Overcoming all the difficulties they encountered along the way, the result in 1985 could not be better: Freddie Spencer won the title in both categories with authority, and Honda took the manufacturers crown in both classes.

 Since then, Honda has been the protagonist in both categories of the World Cup. With Wayne Gardner (1987) and Eddie Lawson (1989) he won two more titles in 500, while in 250 he dominated by Anton Mang (1987) and Sito Pons (1988-1989). In the second half of the decade he will get two manufacturer titles in 500 (1985 and 1989), and five of 250 (from 1985 to 1989), all since he returned to the category.

Despite the success of 1985, technological renewal at Honda was constant. In 1987 an engine with a greater angle between cylinders was designed, 112º instead of 90º of the previous models, and the exhaust was modified developing the ATAC system, more efficient, which allowed reaching a power of 160 CV, with the engine spinning above 13,000 rpm. At that time the competition with Yamaha and, later, Suzuki, was very large, and after each season significant changes and improvements were made that allowed the “queen category” of the World Cup to reach a level previously unknown.

In addition, in 1987 Honda was also opened to the 125 category. In anticipation of the new technical regulation that would come into force in 1988, Honda put on track the first single-cylinder RS125R, which in the hands of Ezio Gianola showed great potential, which would materialize in the following decade with a large number of titles and infinity of victories, beginning a period of success that, with the appropriate evolutions, would last between 1990 and 2005, with nine pilot titles and ten manufacturer titles.

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

The big bang

The decade of the nineties of the last century began with a severe crisis in the World Cup of 500. The high technical level of the highest category significantly reduced the number of manufacturers capable of responding to the technological challenge it required, and therefore reducing the number of pilots on track. In addition, the increase in power of these bikes meant that they were not easy to ride. Solutions were sought to tame the 500, and the International Federation (FIM) chose as a first measure to raise the minimum weight of the bikes, going from 115 to 130 kilos.

While some manufacturers considered offering private riders more basic but sufficiently competitive bikes to increase enrollment, Honda opted for a completely new concept, a more efficient engine that allowed greater control by the rider: the so-called “Big” engine. Bang. ”

Without abandoning the concept of a single crankshaft that has characterized the Honda NSR500 since its inception, Honda modified the crankshaft draft so that all four cylinders explode at the same time at 70º, instead of every 180º, two cylinders alternately . With this new tread, the rear tire suffered a heavy load, but also had a longer recovery time, improving traction and durability of the tire.

The new engine was released in 1992, and at the hands of Mick Doohan the Honda NSR500 had a devastating start to the season: it won five of the first seven races. In the eighth, the Dutch Grand Prix, in Assen, the Australian suffered a serious accident in training and missed several races, returning to the championship months later, very physically reduced, with which he hardly had the opportunity to defend his options for the title, although he fought for him to the end and was runner-up. Despite all this, Doohan’s successes along with the good results of Wayne Gardner and Alex Crivillé, who also won one race each, gave Honda the manufacturer’s title in 500, a crown that in the following decade would achieve no less than eight times.

Honda’s design was immediately incorporated by the other manufacturers, who recognized the advantages of the concept. Looking for a formula to raise the level of the category, Honda’s “Big Bang” had managed to democratize the 500 World Championship, putting the championship within the reach of any driver, regardless of their origin. If, in the past, driving experience with the rear wheel and drift control was required, thanks to the efficient design of the “Big Bang” engine, piloting a 500 was within the reach of any pilot.

In a way, an old Soichiro Honda precept was recovered from the period in which the factory tried to make its way in the World Cup: “We had to make such a good machine that it could win even without a great driver ,” Honda said at the time. When you can combine that exceptional bike with the best rider, the result is devastating. Mick Doohan, finally recovered from his injuries, began a stage of undisputed dominance in the 500 World Cup, from 1994 to 1998, achieving five consecutive titles, even transforming the design concept of the NSR500 in 1997, by returning again to the conventional draft motor, which was popularly known as the “Screamer”. In its last phase of development, the NSR500’s engine reached 180 hp, at 12,000 rpm. His work was completed by Alex Crivillé being crowned champion in 1999, and Valentino Rossi, adding the last title of 500 in 2001, before the top category of the World Cup was transformed giving way to MotoGP, and establishing the milestone of achieving the 500th victory of Honda at the World Cup, precisely in Suzuka, a circuit owned by Honda, at the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix.

 

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

 

The MotoGP era

In 2002 the last great transformation takes place in the World Championship. The 500 category disappears giving way to the new MotoGP class, for four-stroke mechanics. Thus began a new phase of technical development, which in the following two decades will raise the level of competition and technological challenge.

During the 18 seasons that the MotoGP regulation is in force, the category has lived through three different periods marked by three different regulations, and in all of them Honda has managed to succeed.

 

Between 2002 and 2006 the engines were limited to 990 cc. Honda introduced an innovative model, the Honda RC211V, with a V5 engine, a configuration unheard of in championship history , where no more than four-cylinder engine was seen from the six-cylinder Honda RC166 (250) and RC174 (350). 1967. Honda brilliantly opened and closed that stage, with Valentino Rossi being crowned champion in 2002 and 2003, and Nicky Hayden in 2006, in addition to adding four manufacturer titles (2002-2003-2004-2006). The RC211V had a power greater than 220 CV at 15,500 rpm, which was a significant increase compared to the NSR500, but in its latest version it already reached 250 CV at 16,500 rpm, and taking into account its weight of only 148 kilos the weight / power ratio reached an impressive ratio of 1: 1.7.

With the arrival of the MotoGP, Honda applied some previously developed systems to its competition bikes, such as the PGM-FI electronic injection that it came to use in the 1993 NSR500, and which it did not finish implementing in the saga because it was not Like Mick Doohan, his benchmark pilot in the 1990s, who had no confidence in the system. Electronics became a fundamental technological element, and in this sense the efficient operation of the electronics developed by Honda made the task easier for its pilots.

 

In 2007 the MotoGP regulation reduces the displacement to 800cc. Honda put its new RC212V on the track, which adopted the V4 configuration, making the bike more compact and manageable to meet the objective set with the reduction in displacement: to get the best possible performance from cornering. Most notably, again, Honda’s initiative marked a change in the design of MotoGP bikes. In 2008 Honda introduced valves with a pneumatic drive system, which allowed to increase the speed of the engines. Titanium springs were beginning to reach the limit of their use. With the pneumatic systems, the motors could turn above 18,000 rpm, reaching powers of more than 200 CV, despite having lost 20% of the displacement. Immediately the rest of the manufacturers adopted the pneumatic valve system, except for Ducati, which remains faithful to the Desmodromic system that it has used since the 1950s.

Another significant improvement introduced by Honda was the Seamless derailleur system, which brought with it a noticeable improvement in the bike’s performance, thanks to the increased transmission efficiency.

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

 

The start of the MotoGP category was a new opportunity for Honda to showcase its enormous technological potential in the RC211V and its 990cc V5 engine. An unprecedented configuration that would give the brand the first world title of the MotoGP era.

Those were difficult years in which Dani Pedrosa’s constancy as a pilot stood out, little rewarded due to various accidents. Finally, in 2011 Casey Stoner was crowned champion, making Honda also add the manufacturers title in a brilliant season.

The technological change developed with the reintroduction of the four-stroke engines also reached the 125 and 250 categories, which evolved into the new categories of Moto3 and Moto2, respectively. Until then, in both 125 and 250, the results were remarkable with the use of two-stroke technology. When the 250 category gave way to the Moto2 class in 2010, the Honda CBR600RR engine was used as a mechanical base, which continued to be used until 2018, within what we can consider as the first generation Moto2. The last 250 title fell on the side of Honda, from the hand of Hiroshi Aoyama and the 2009 RSW250R, a motorcycle that began its journey in 2004 with Dani Pedrosa, reaping two consecutive titles,

As for Moto3, which joined the championship in 2012, Honda developed the NSF250R, a single-cylinder four-stroke and injection, which has achieved extraordinary efficiency with its 55 HP of power and electronic injection, achieving since 2014 practically all the titles of the category : five as a driver – only the 2016 one was missing – and four as a manufacturer, dominating the last three seasons in both classifications.

In 2012 came the last change in the MotoGP regulations, which established an increase in displacement to 1,000 cc. This returned to large, very powerful engines with a higher power band. Honda put the RC213V on the track, also with a V4 engine, a model that is still in use today. Thanks to Marc Márquez, who joined the championship in 2013, the success of this pairing has been almost absolute.

The arrival of the single ECU in 2016 was quite a challenge for Honda, because engineers have had to work to get to know and master a non-technology system developed by Honda, without losing efficiency. This new electronic control unit has to manage powers above 250 CV. But not everything is the engine. The implementation in other technical areas of improvements and innovations contributes to the general good performance of the motorcycle. The aerodynamic elements developed have helped to improve performance in twisty areas, and improvements to the cycle part, with very elaborate frames, or elements as sophisticated as the carbon fiber swingarm, are also contributions of the highest technological level.

 

Márquez has added six MotoGP titles since his arrival to the championship, and Honda has achieved seven manufacturer titles during this period – only the 2015 one escaped -, showing his superiority in the category and the technological excellence that has accompanied the brand to throughout its 60 years of presence at the Grand Prix.

During all this time, Honda has achieved 70 titles in general, 25 of them in the 500 / MotoGP category, where it has added 307 victories, representing 58.5 percent of those achieved in the highest category. It is the most successful brand in the history of the championship and leads the MotoGP World Championship with authority.

 

Inspiration Friday 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins
Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins

 

Statistical annex

 

Table of driver and manufacturer titles obtained by Honda in the World Cup

Year Pilot Maker
1961 125 Tom Phillis (Honda RC143)

250 Mike Hailwood (Honda RC162)

125 cc

250 cc

1962 125 Luigi Taveri (Honda RC145)

250 Jim Redman (Honda RC 162)

350 Jim Redman (Honda RC 171)

125 cc

250 cc

350 cc

1963 250 Jim Redman (Honda RC 164)

350 Jim Redman (Honda RC 172)

250 cc

350 cc

1964 125 Luigi Taveri (Honda RC146)

350 Jim Redman (Honda RC 172)

125 cc

350 cc

1965 50 Ralph Bryans (Honda RC115)

350 Jim Redman (Honda RC 172)

50 cc

350 cc

1966 125 Luigi Taveri (Honda RC149)

250 Mike Hailwood (Honda RC166)

350 Mike Hailwood (Honda RC174)

50 cc

125 cc

250 cc

350 cc

500 cc

1967 250 Mike Hailwood (Honda RC166)

350 Mike Hailwood (Honda RC174)

250 cc

350 cc

1983 500 Freddie Spencer (Honda NS500) 500 cc
1984 500 cc
1985 250 Freddie Spencer (Honda NSR250)

500 Freddie Spencer (Honda NSR500)

250 cc

500 cc

1986 250 cc
1987 250 Anton Mang (Honda NSR250)

500 Wayne Gardner (Honda NSR500)

250 cc
1988 250 Sito Pons (Honda NSR250) 250 cc
1989 250 Sito Pons (Honda NSR250)

500 Eddie Lawson (Honda NSR500)

125 cc

250 cc

1990 125 Loris Capirossi (Honda RS125R) 125 cc
1991 125 Loris Capirossi (Honda RS125R)

250 Luca Cadalora (Honda NSR250)

125 cc

250 cc

1992 250 Luca Cadalora (Honda NSR250) 125 cc

250 cc

500 cc

1993 125 Dirk Raudies (Honda RS125R) 125 cc

250 cc

1994 500 Mick Doohan (Honda NSR500) 125 cc

500 cc

nineteen ninety five 125 Haruchika Aoki (Honda RS125R)

500 Mick Doohan (Honda NSR500)

125 cc

500 cc

nineteen ninety six 125 Haruchika Aoki (Honda RS125R)

500 Mick Doohan (Honda NSR500)

250 cc

500 cc

1997 250 Max Biaggi (Honda NSR250)

500 Mick Doohan (Honda NSR500)

250 cc

500 cc

1998 500 Mick Doohan (Honda NSR500) 125 cc

500 cc

1999 125 Emilio Alzamora (Honda RS125R)

500 Alex Crivillé (Honda NSR500)

125 cc

500 cc

2000 125 cc
2001 250 Daijiro Kato (Honda NSR250)

500 Valentino Rossi (Honda NSR500)

125 cc

250 cc

500 cc

2002 MotoGP Valentino Rossi (Honda RC211V) MotoGP
2003 125 Dani Pedrosa (Honda RS125R)

MotoGP Valentino Rossi (Honda RC211V)

MotoGP
2004 125 Andrea Dovizioso (Honda RS125R)

250 Dani Pedrosa (Honda RSW250R)

250 cc

MotoGP

2005 125 Thomas Luthi (Honda RS125R)

250 Dani Pedrosa (Honda RSW250R)

250 cc
2006 MotoGP Nicky Hayden (Honda RC211V) MotoGP
2009 250 Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda RSW250R)
2011 MotoGP Casey Stoner (Honda RC212V) MotoGP
2012 MotoGP
2013 MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V) MotoGP
2014 Moto3 Alex Marquez (Honda NSF250R)

MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V)

MotoGP
2015 Moto3 Danny Kent (Honda NSF250R) Moto3
2016 MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V) MotoGP
2017 Moto3 Joan Mir (Honda NSF250R)

MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V)

Moto3

MotoGP

2018 Moto3 Jorge Martín (Honda NSF250R)

MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V)

Moto3

MotoGP

2019 Moto3 Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda NSF250R)

MotoGP Marc Márquez (Honda RC213V)

Moto3

MotoGP

 

Thank you to Honda, race fans, racetracks and all the racing greats for bringing this week’s Inspiration Friday: 60 Years of Dreams, Innovations and Wins to you. May we again hear, see and smell the wonderful sounds of motorcyclists racing down the track soon!

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