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Corporate January 29, 2001 |
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| 2001 Honda Motorcycle Racing Activities |
World Championship Series
- Road Racing
World Championship
- Honda has won 497 races
since it recorded its first win in 1961 in the Road Race World Championship,
now known as the MotoGP. This year, six riders from four teams will
ride factory NSR500s in the 500cc class in a bid to regain the Riders'
championship title. Honda will be represented in the 250cc class by
two riders from one team, both mounted on NSR250s. The company has also
developed an all-new MotoGP challenger, the RC211V, in preparation for
revised regulations that will come into play in the 2002 season. This
new machine, powered by a four-stroke V5 engine, will be active on racetracks
throughout next year's championship.
500cc Class
1999 Series Champion Alex
Criville (Spain) will race for REPSOL YPF HONDA in order to regain victory
in this series championship that stands at the pinnacle of motorcycle
racing. He will be joined by Tohru Ukawa (Japan), a new graduate from
the 2500cc class in which he played a major role in the Honda 250cc
squad for five years through the end of the 2000 season. Valentino Rossi
(Italy) will renew his bid for the title by staying on to race with
NASTRO AZZURRO Honda. Rossi won two events in his 500cc debut season,
surprising the paddock by placing second overall.
Additionally, Alex Barros (Brazil) and Loris Capirossi (Italy), each
of whom earned two victories in the 2000 season, will continue their
challenges with Honda PONS. Barros ranked fourth overall last year,
his teammate Capirossi seventh.
HARDWICK RACING, for which Tohru Ukawa raced last year, will field a
new entrant in this class. Chris Walker (Great Britain), a participant
in last year's British Superbike Championship, will ride one of the
team's motorcycles in the MotoGP 500cc class.
250cc Class
Daijiro Kato (Japan), a young rider of outstanding ability who won no
less than four races in his debut year, will participate in the 250cc
class again this year. He will embark upon a new partnership with 1999's
125cc-class champion Emilio Alzamora (Spain) in TEAM TELEFONICA MOVISTAR
Honda, which is owned by the legendary rider Fausto Gresini.
|
Class
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
500cc
|
REPSOL
YPF HONDA
|
Alex
Criville
|
Spain
|
NSR500
|
|
Tohru
Ukawa
|
Japan
|
|
NASTRO
AZZURRO Honda
|
Valentino
Rossi
|
Italy
|
|
Honda
PONS
|
Alex
Barros
|
Brazil
|
|
Loris
Capirossi
|
Italy
|
|
HARDWICK
RACING
|
Chris
Walker
|
Great
Britain
|
|
250cc
|
TEAM
TELEFONICA MOVISTAR Honda
|
Daijiro
Katoh
|
Japan
|
NSR250
|
|
Emilio
Alzamora
|
Spain
|
Honda Road Race Grand
Prix Victory Record
|
Year
|
50cc
|
125cc
|
250cc
|
350cc
|
500cc
|
Manufacturer's
title
|
|
1960
|
-
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
1961
|
-
|
8
|
10
|
-
|
-
|
250cc/125cc
|
|
1962
|
1
|
10
|
9
|
5
|
-
|
350cc/250cc/125cc
|
|
1963
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
-
|
350cc/250cc
|
|
1964
|
3
|
7
|
3
|
8
|
-
|
350cc/125cc
|
|
1965
|
5
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
-
|
350cc/50cc
|
|
1966
|
3
|
5
|
10
|
6
|
5
|
500cc/350cc/250cc/125cc/50cc
|
|
1967
|
-
|
-
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
350cc/250cc
|
| |
|
1979
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
1980
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
1981
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
1982
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
|
|
1983
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
6
|
500cc
|
|
1984
|
*
|
-
|
-
|
*
|
8
|
500cc
|
|
1985
|
|
-
|
9
|
|
8
|
500cc/250cc
|
|
1986
|
|
-
|
4
|
|
3
|
250cc
|
|
1987
|
|
-
|
12
|
|
7
|
250cc
|
|
1988
|
|
2
|
10
|
|
4
|
250cc
|
|
1989
|
|
6
|
11
|
|
6
|
500cc/250cc/125cc
|
|
1990
|
|
11
|
5
|
|
3
|
125cc
|
|
1991
|
|
11
|
13
|
|
3
|
250cc/125cc
|
|
1992
|
|
10
|
7
|
|
7
|
500cc/250cc/125cc
|
|
1993
|
|
13
|
7
|
|
2
|
250cc/125cc
|
|
1994
|
|
10
|
8
|
|
9
|
500cc/250cc/125cc
|
|
1995
|
|
10
|
4
|
|
9
|
500cc/125cc
|
|
1996
|
|
5
|
5
|
|
13
|
500cc/250cc
|
|
1997
|
|
4
|
12
|
|
15
|
500cc/250cc
|
|
1998
|
|
10
|
1
|
|
13
|
500cc/125cc
|
|
1999
|
|
11
|
5
|
|
9
|
500cc/125cc
|
|
2000
|
|
3
|
6
|
|
6
|
125cc
|
| Total |
13
|
139
|
166
|
35
|
144
|
50 championship titles/497 wins
|
Excerpts from Honda statistics.
Years marked ( - ) means no Honda participation in the indicated class.
No class championships were held for the years marked ( * ). Honda temporarily
halted its motorcycle racing activities for eleven years between 1968
and 1978.
- World Superbike
Championship Series
- As with last season, Honda
will participate in the 2001 World Superbike Championship Series (WSB)
with two VTR1000SPWs representing one team, this year to defend the
title garnered in the previous season.
Colin Edwards (United States), who took the title by winning eight races
on the VTR1000SPW developed specially for the 2000 season, will be doing
his best to become a double champion. Joining him in Castrol Honda is
Tadayuki Okada (Japan), known for his MotoGP participation as a Honda
factory rider in REPSOL YPF HONDA.
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
Castrol
Honda
|
Colin
Edwards
|
Tadayuki
Okada
|
VTR1000SPW
|
|
United
States
|
Japan
|
- Motocross World
Championship Series
- Honda will enter a single
CR250M in the Motocross World Championship Series, having won the 2000
title with a CR250R. The challenge will be taken up by double defending
champion Frederic Bolley (France) of Pamo Racing, who will be riding
toward extending his consecutive title-winning record to three.
|
Class
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
250cc
|
Pamo
Racing
|
Frederic
Bolley
|
France
|
CR250R
|
- Trial World
Championship Series
- One COTA315R (last year's
winning machine) and one RTL will be entered in the 2001 Trial World
Championship, a competition in which Honda remains the team to beat.
Dougie Lampkin (Great Britain), competing on the COTA315R, will defend
his ongoing title streak tenaciously in hopes of extending it to a fifth
consecutive season. Takahisa Fujinami (Japan), the runner-up for two
years in a row, will ride the RTL with the aim of finishing in the top
slot in the overall classification. Both riders will be serviced by
MONTESA HRC.
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
Montesa
HRC
|
Dougie
Lampkin
|
Great
Britain
|
COTA315R
|
|
Takahisa
Fujinami
|
Japan
|
RTL
|
Japanese Championship Series
In the domestic Japanese racing arena, Honda will be represented by Honda
Racing Corporation, fielding machines in the Superbike class in the Road
Race Championship Series, in the 250cc class in the Motocross Championship
Series, and in the 250cc class in the Trial Championship Series.
- Japanese Road
Race Championship Series
- In the Superbike class,
Team CABIN HONDA will enter Makoto Tamada and Tatsuya Yamaguchi riding
a pair of VTR1000SPW machines. Both riders and their supporting team
are gearing up for a concerted effort to reclaim the title.
|
Class
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
SUPER BIKE
|
Team CABIN HONDA
|
Makoto Tamada
|
Japan
|
VTR1000SPW
|
|
Tatsuya Yamaguchi
|
Japan
|
- Japanese Motocross
Championship Series
- Two RC250Ms will be entered
in the 250cc class by TEAM HRC, ridden by the formidable duo of Ryuichiro
Takahama, the defending champion, and Yoshitaka Atsuta, who won out
over all other competitors but his teammate.
TEAM HRC will also race an experimental four-stroke racing motocross
machine, the CRF450R, which is being fielded for purely development
purposes, offering an opportunity for Kazuyoshi Odagiri to take part
in the series.
| Class |
Team |
Rider |
Nationality |
Motorcycle |
| 250cc |
TEAM HRC |
Ryuichiro Tamahama |
Japan |
RC250M |
| Yoshitaka Atsuta |
Japan |
| Kazuyoshi Odagiri |
Japan |
CRF450R |
- Japanese Trial
Championship Series
- In the Japanese Trial
Championship Series, where Honda has earned three consecutive titles,
Takahisa Fujinami from TEAM HRC is determined to defend the company's
honor for the fourth consecutive year. Given Fujinami's double entry
in both domestic and international competitions, his racing season is
sure to be a busy one.
| Team |
Rider |
Nationality |
Motorcycle |
| TEAM HRC |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Japan |
RTL |
American Championship Series
- AMA Road Race
Series
- In the Superbike class,
American Honda will put Nickey Hayden (United States) and Miguel Duhamel
(Canada) on the company's RC51s (VTR1000SPWs). To further strengthen
the challenge from Honda, Erion Racing will enter Kurtis Roberts on
an identical machine.
| Class |
Team |
Rider |
Nationality |
Motorcycle |
| SUPER BIKE |
American Honda |
Nickey Hayden |
United States |
RC51 (VTR1000SPW) |
| Miguel Duhamel |
Canada |
| Erion Racing |
Kurtis Roberts |
United States |
- AMA Supercross/National
Motocross Series
- Ezra Lusk (United States)
and Sebastien Tortelli (France), representing the American Honda team,
will participate in the 250cc classes in the Supercross and National
Motocross Series on CR250Rs. The team will also enter Ryan Hughes (United
States) riding a CR250R in the 250cc class in the National Motocross
Series, an event in which American Honda will also enter a four-stroke
experimental motocross machine, the CRF450R.
|
Class
|
Team
|
Rider
|
Nationality
|
Motorcycle
|
|
250SX / 250NATL
|
American Honda
|
Ezra Lusk
|
United States
|
CR250R
|
|
Sebastien Tortelli
|
France
|
|
250NATL
|
Ryan Hughes
|
United States
|
Other World Championship Series
- Supersport
World Championship Series
- (held together with the
Superbike World Championship Series)
In the Supersport World Championship Series, seven riders from four
teams, including Alpha Technik Honda, BMK Honda, Castrol Honda, and
Ten Kate Honda, will ride newly developed CBR600FSs.
| Team |
Rider |
Nationality |
Motorcycle |
| Alpha
Technik Honda |
Adam Fergusson |
Australia |
CBR600FS |
| Markus Barth |
Germany |
| BMK Honda |
Kevin Curtain |
Australia |
| Ivan Goi |
Italy |
| Castrol Honda |
Chris Vermeulen |
Australia |
| Ten Kate
Honda |
Fabian Foret |
France |
| Pere Riba |
Spain |
|
|
|
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