Category: Industry News Source Credit: Honda 2007 Motorcycle Racing Plans Honda announces its motorcycle racing plans for '07. Friday - January 19, 2007 Http://world.honda.com Publication: Honda Worldwide Edition: Thursday - January 25, 2007 Copyright Info: 2007 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. TOKYO, Japan, January 19, 2006 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced its motorcycle racing plans for 2007, 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 winning, for the second year in a row, the three championship titles for rider, manufacturer and team in the World Championship MotoGP class, the premier class of world championship road racing. In addition, Honda is aiming to tackle the challenge of securing championships in other categories of road racing and in each series of motocross, trial and mountain bike downhill racing. [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 of the newly developed RC212V MotoGP machines and to supply engines to one team, with the aim of capturing all three titles for the second year in a row, under the new 800cc engine displacement regulations. Just as in last season, riding for the Repsol Honda works team will be Nicky Hayden, the winner of last year’s championship, and Dani Pedrosa, who finished fifth in the series ranking. Team Rider Repsol Honda Team #1 Nicky Hayden (Age 25, USA) #26 Dani Pedrosa (Age 21, Spain) Team Honda Gresini #33 Marco Melandri (Age 24, Italy) #24 Toni Elias (Age 23, Spain) Konica Minolta Honda #56 Shinya Nakano (Age 29, Japan) Honda LCR #7 Carlos Checa (Age 34, Spain) (*Engine supply) Team Roberts #10 Kenny Roberts Jr. (Age 33, USA) < 250cc class > In the 250cc class, Honda will field four riders and two teams with the RS250RW aiming for the title. Team Rider Repsol Honda 250 #60 Julian Simon (Age 19, Spain) #73 Shuhei Aoyama (Age 22, Japan) Humangest Racing Team #34 Andrea Dovizioso (Age 20, Italy) #55 Yuki Takahashi (Age 22, Japan) MFJ All-Japan Road Race Championship Series The All-Japan Road Race Championship Series will be centered on teams run by Honda dealerships and supported by Honda Motorcycle Japan Co., Ltd. The teams will run the CBR1000RR in the JSB1000 class, in which Honda captured the series championship last year, and a full model change CBR600RR in the ST600 class, also won by Honda last year. Honda will be vying to retake the championship in the GP250 class, with the RS250R. In the GP125 class, won by the Honda team last year, Honda will aim to capture the series title for the second year in a row, running the RS125R. British Superbike (BSB) Championship Ryuichi Kiyonari, who won the series championship for the first time last year, will aim to repeat his success. Honda plans to race two CBR1000RRKs, with the aim of capturing a double title in both the rider’s and the manufacturer’s categories. Team Rider HM Plant Honda Racing #1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Age 24, Japan) #TBA Jonathan Rea (Age 19, UK) [Motocross] MFJ All-Japan Motocross Championship Series The works team TEAM HRC will be vying to capture the title for the second season in a row in the IA1class (displacement of 450cc or less for 4-stroke machines). Yu Hirata has joined the team in the IA2class (displacement of 250cc or less for 4-stroke machines), setting his sights on the championship. Team Rider TEAM HRC IA 1st class #1 Yoshitaka Atsuta (Age 29, Japan) IA 1st class #4 Kazumasa Masuda (Age 26, Japan) IA 2nd class #197 Yu Hirata (Age 22, Japan) [Trials] FIM World Trials Championship Series For the FIM World Trials Championship Series, Honda will run three Montesa COTA 4RTs equipped with 4-stroke engines, with the aim of capturing both the rider’s and the manufacturer’s titles. Team Rider Repsol Montesa HRC #2 Takahisa Fujinami (Age 27, Japan) #4 Dougie Lampkin (Age 30, UK) #5 Antonio Bou (Age 20, Spain)