On November 6, 2018 (local time), Honda announced plans for its participation in motorcycle motorsports world championship racing activities for the 2019 season, at EICMA 2018 in
Milan, Italy.
In 2019, Honda will continue to compete in the premier classes of motorcycle road racing, Motocross and Trial world championships and the Dakar Rally 2019, with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) factory teams*1 aiming to win the titles in each category.
In the FIM*2 Road Racing World Championship Series MotoGP class, five-time champion and 2018 winner Marc Marquez will be joined by Jorge Lorenzo to race for Repsol Honda Team. In the FIM Motocross World Championship Series MXGP class, 2016 champion Tim Gajser and Brian Bogers will continue to represent Team HRC.
In the FIM Trial World Championship Series TrialGP class, twelve-time consecutive winner Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami in his 24th year in the championship will once again race for Repsol Honda Team.
In the Dakar Rally 2019, Kevin Benavides, Joan Barreda, Paulo Goncalves, Ricky Brabec and Jose Ignacio Cornejo will represent Monster Energy Honda Team.
In addition to Honda’s factory teams, major Honda teams will compete in major world championship in 2019.
In the FIM Superbike World Championship Series, HRC will support the team operated by Althea Racing and Moriwaki Engineering with Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari as their riders.
In the FIM Endurance World Championship series, 2017-2018 winners F.C.C. TSR Honda France will continue to be represented by Freddy Foray and Josh Hook, with Mike Di Meglio also joining the team. Last season’s overall third-place team, Honda Endurance Racing, will continue their quest to win the EWC title.
In the 450SX class of the AMA*3 SuperCross World Championship Series held mainly in North America, American Honda’s factory team, Team Honda HRC, will continue with Ken Roczen and Cole Seely.
Racing is Honda’s driving force, and through competing in various races, hones its technologies and its people. The racing spirit and technologies gained are part of many Honda products. Honda will continue to realize “The Power of Dreams” with its customers, in its products, services and racing activities.
*1 Factory teams: Teams operated by motorcycle manufacturers
*2 FIM: Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
*3 AMA: American Motorcyclist Association
Honda’s 2019 Participation in Motorcycle World Championship Racing
<MotoGP Class>
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Repsol Honda Team ★*4 |
RC213V ★*4 |
93 |
Marc Márquez ★*4 |
25 |
Spain |
MotoGP Champion |
99 |
Jorge Lorenzo ★ |
31 |
Spain |
MotoGP 10th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
LCR Honda CASTROL |
35 |
Cal Crutchlow ★ |
33 |
U.K. |
MotoGP 7th (as of Nov. 6) |
|
LCR Honda IDEMITSU |
30 |
Takaaki Nakagami ★ |
26 |
Japan |
MotoGP 20th (as of Nov. 6) |
*4 Team ★ indicates factory team, machine ★ indicates factory bike, rider ★ indicates HRC rider
<Moto3 Class>
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 |
NSF250RW ★ |
TBA |
Sergio García |
15 |
Spain |
CEV Moto3 5th (as of Nov. 6) |
72 |
Alonso López |
16 |
Spain |
Moto3 23rd (as of Nov. 6) |
||
Leopard Racing |
42 |
Marcos Ramirez |
20 |
Spain |
Moto3 10th (as of Nov. 6) |
|
48 |
Lorenzo Dalla Porta |
21 |
Italy |
Moto3 5th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
Team KÖMMERLING Gresini Moto3 |
19 |
Gabriel Rodrigo |
22 |
Argentina |
Moto3 7th (as of Nov. 6) |
|
TBA |
Riccardo Rossi |
16 |
Italy |
CEV Moto3 14th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
Marinelli Snipers Team |
14 |
Tony Arbolino |
18 |
Italy |
Moto3 18th (as of Nov. 6) |
|
76 |
Makar Yurchenko |
20 |
Kazakhstan |
Moto3 28th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
PETRONAS Sprinta Racing |
71 |
Ayumu Sasaki |
18 |
Japan |
Moto3 21st (as of Nov. 6) |
|
17 |
John Mcphee |
24 |
U.K. |
Moto3 14th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
Honda Team Asia |
27 |
Kaito Toba |
18 |
Japan |
Moto3 22nd (as of Nov. 6) |
|
TBA |
Ai Ogura |
17 |
Japan |
CEV Moto3 6th (as of Nov. 6) |
||
SIC58 Squadra Corse |
23 |
Niccolò Antonelli |
22 |
Italy |
Moto3 15th (as of Nov. 6) |
|
24 |
Tatsuki Suzuki |
21 |
Japan |
Moto3 12th (as of Nov. 6) |
<MXGP: 450cc Class>
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Team HRC ★ |
CRF450RW ★ |
243 |
Tim Gajser ★ |
22 |
Slovenia |
MXGP 4th |
5 |
Brian Bogers ★ |
22 |
Netherlands |
MXGP 37th |
<MX2: 250cc Class>
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Team HRC ★ |
CRF250RW ★ |
10 |
Calvin Vlaanderen ★ |
22 |
South Africa |
MX2 6th |
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Repsol Honda Team ★ |
COTA4RT ★ |
1 |
Toni Bou ★ |
32 |
Spain |
TrialGP Champion |
6 |
Takahisa Fujinami ★ |
38 |
Japan |
TrialGP 6th |
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Monster Energy Honda Team ★ |
CRF450 RALLY ★ |
47 |
Kevin Benavides ★ |
29 |
Argentina |
Dakar 2018 2nd |
5 |
Joan Barreda ★ |
35 |
Spain |
Dakar 2018 Entry |
||
2 |
Paulo Goncalves ★ |
39 |
Portugal |
Cross-Country Rally World Championship 4th |
||
15 |
Ricky Brabec ★ |
27 |
U.S.A. |
Dakar 2018 Entry |
||
10 |
José Ignacio Cornejo ★ |
24 |
Chile |
Dakar 2018 10th |
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
TBA |
CBR1000RR SP2 |
TBA |
Leon Camier ★ |
32 |
U.K. |
WSBK 12th |
TBA |
Ryuichi Kiyonari ★ |
36 |
Japan |
JRR*5JSB1000 8th |
*5 All Japan Road Race Championship series
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
F.C.C. TSR Honda France |
CBR1000RR SP2 |
1 |
Freddy Foray |
34 |
France |
EWC Champions |
Josh Hook |
25 |
Australia |
EWC Champions |
|||
Mike Di Meglio |
30 |
France |
EWC 2nd |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Honda Endurance Racing Team |
|
111 |
TBA |
- |
- |
- |
<450SX: 450cc Class>
Team |
Machine |
No. |
Rider |
Age |
Nationality |
2018 results |
Team Honda HRC |
CRF450R |
94 |
Ken Roczen |
24 |
Germany |
450SX 18th |
14 |
Cole Seely |
28 |
U.S.A. |
450SX 17th |
Publicity materials relating to this press release are available at the following URL: https://news.honda.co.jp/en/
(The site is intended exclusively for the use of journalists.)