Jan 19, 2024 | Business
Honda announced its motorsports participation plans for the 2024 season.
Motorcycle activities
Despite winning the third round of the 2023 FIM*1 MotoGP World Championship MotoGP class at the Americas GP, the overall season was very disappointing for Honda. 2024 will see Luca Marini join the Repsol Honda Team, and Johann Zarco join the CASTROL Honda LCR team. Honda aims to enhance competitiveness of its racing bikes and regain the MotoGP title.
In the FIM Trial World Championship TrialGP class, Toni Bou won the 2023 championship achieving his 17th consecutive title, and combined with his 17th title victory in the X-Trial World Championship has won 34 consecutive titles. Bou will take on the challenge to break his own unprecedented record in 2024.
Honda aims to achieve carbon neutrality in all of its motorcycle products in the 2040s, and is working on the electrification of motorcycles as the mainstay of its future environmental strategy, while continuing to work on the evolution of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Carbon-neutral fuel is being incorporated in motorsports, as well. In 2023, Honda supported the introduction of carbon-neutral fuel in the JSB1000 class of the MFJ*2 All Japan Road Race Championship (JRR) and will do so in MotoGP and FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) in 2024. Last year, Honda made a spot entry in the All Japan Motocross Championship (JMX) with CR ELECTRIC PROTO, and is continuing consideration of entering new electric motorcycle categories.
Automobile Motorsports Activities
In the 2023 FIA*3 Formula One World Championship (F1) season, Honda provided technical and marketing support to Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri as a team partner. As technical support, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) manufactured components apart from the power unit (PU) ESS*4 which it supplied to Red Bull Powertrains*5 and supported PU operations throughout the season. This partnership helped Oracle Red Bull Racing win the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles with an overwhelming 21 wins out of 22 races. Honda will continue the same partnership with both teams in 2024, its 60th anniversary*6 of F1 activities, aiming for even greater heights. Honda will also continue to support the activities of Yuki Tsunoda, who is entering his fourth year in F1.
In Japan, Honda aims to regain the SUPER GT series*7 GT500 class for the first time since 2020 by introducing the new CIVIC TYPE R-GT based on the CIVIC TYPE R, and recruiting talented young drivers.
In addition, Ayumu Iwasa, a Honda-trained driver who achieved good results in the FIA Formula Two Championship (F2) last year, will move up to the All-Japan Super Formula Championship (SF) with a view to F1 participation in the future. Honda will support this move and position the Japanese SF as a category that leads to world-class formula races such as F1, and like the SUPER GT series, will actively promote young drivers and encourage their participation in the series.
In North America, Honda Performance Development (HPD), which has been responsible for Honda’s racing activities in the region, has been renamed to Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC-US) in January 2024, and will aim to enhance Honda’s automobile motorsports development on a global scale. In 2024, HPD will supply five teams competing in the IndyCar Series with engines through HRC-US. In addition, two Acura-branded ARX-06 cars supplied by HRC-US will compete in the IMSA*8 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the new HRC logo. HRC in Japan and HRC-US will work together to further enhance Honda’s racing activities on a global scale.
(1) FIM: Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
(2) MFJ: Motorcycle Federation of Japan
(3) FIA: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile
(4) ESS: Energy Storage System, a battery system that stores recovered electrical energy
(5) Red Bull Powertrains, a Red Bull Group company manufactures F1 PUs, and manufactures and operates ESS’ for current model PUs.
(6) Counting from Honda’s first participation in F1 at the German Grand Prix in August 1964
(7) SUPER GT series is organized and operated by GTA Co., Ltd.
(8) IMSA: International Motor Sports Association
For more information, visit https://global.honda/en/newsroom/news/2024/c240119eng.html.
Copyright ©2024 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.
Dec 8, 2021 | Business
Subaru Motorsports USA took a 1-2 finish in the 2021 Nitro Rallycross drivers championship and secured the Nitro RX teams championship at the seasons final round in Florida, as Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed finished the year in a thrilling tie at the top of the standings with 219 points each, one point clear of Timmy Hansen with 218. Pastrana was crowned overall champion on the tiebreaker with two event wins to Speeds one. Together with Pastranas American Rally Association championship secured less than a month ago, Subaru Motorsports USA becomes the first team to win the American rally and rallycross titles in the same year.
Wow! Three drivers within one point, me tied with Scott Speed for the championship
this has been an incredible season for the whole Subaru team, said Pastrana after his victory. Scott was so quick this weekend, and put so much into developing this car, to be tied for the top spot with him and just ahead of Timmy was just unbelievable. What a season!
The last weekend of the Nitro RX season was destined to be an all-out fight for the title, with Pastrana, Speed and former world champion Timmy Hansen all within reach of the top spot before Saturdays qualifying battles kicked off. Speed sat second, seven points behind his teammate, but proved his pace on the tarmac-heavy Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park layout by working his way to the top of the head-to-head knockout rounds to earn four critical championship points plus pole position in one of the Sunday heat races. Hansen earned three points of his own and sat second, while Pastrana picked up two and maintained a five-point championship lead.
Sunday started with fireworks from the top drivers, as Pastrana outdueled Kevin Hansen from the outside lane to win his heat race, and Timmy Hansen and Speed both won from pole in their heats to put all three championship contenders in the first three positions in the final race. With Kevin Hansen also qualifying in the semifinals, the stage was set: Speed on pole, Timmy Hansen on the outside of the front row, Pastrana on the second row behind Speed, and Kevin Hansen behind his brother beside Travis.
With the championship hanging in the balance, the final start provided maximum drama. Speed, needing to maintain two positions ahead of his teammate to win the championship, launched well from pole position. Pastrana was squeezed inside onto the dirt by Kevin and into the side of Speed, pushing him wide. As Pastrana moved up, Speed and Timmy Hansen headed to the longer joker lap, dropping them further back into the field and forcing them to fight back toward the front with fast lap times. When Pastrana took his joker on the final lap, the two Hansens and Speed went through into the podium positionsbut the third and fourth-place finishes were exactly what the Subaru teammates needed to ensure a tie on points for the NRX drivers championship with a one-point margin over Timmy Hansen.
The Nitro RX double championship and 1-2 drivers title finish caps off a season that included five stage rally victories and the ARA drivers title, three rallycross event wins, a second-place finish at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and a new record at the Mt. Washington Hillclimbthe most successful season in the history of the Subaru Motorsports USA program.
About Subaru Motorsports USA
Subaru Motorsports USA is managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., MOTUL, KMC Wheels, Yokohama Tires, DirtFish Rally School, KÜHL, RECARO, weBoost and PepLink. Follow the team online at www.subaru.com/motorsports.
Follow Subaru Motorsports USA on Facebook, on Instagram @subarumotorsportsusa, on TikTok @subarumotorsportsusa, and on Twitter @subarums_usa.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the companys vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $200 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 63,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do.
For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
