After months of speculation, Honda Racing
has announced an impressive line-up for its
assault on the 2004 British Superbike Championship.
The world's leading motorcycle manufacturer
also revealed its partnership with a new title
sponsor, HM Plant, the UK's official distributor
of Hitachi Construction Equipment.
With the signing of Michael Rutter and Ryuichi
Kiyonari, the HM Plant Honda Racing team will
enter two new riders on the factory CBR1000RR
Fireblade. Thirty-year-old Rutter from Market
Bosworth in Leicestershire is already one
of the stars of the championship. After finishing
the past two seasons second and third in the
series Rutter will be hoping to go one better
on Honda's latest four-cylinder Superbike.
Twenty-one-year-old Kiyonari will be a rookie
in the British Superbike Championship. But,
with invaluable experience racing in his native
Japan and the MotoGP World Championship, Kiyonari
is expected to make a huge impact on the world's
leading domestic Superbike series. Honda's
ex-MotoGP and World Superbike rider Tady Okada,
who will be supervising the new CBR1000RR
project with full Honda Racing Corporation
(HRC) support, will join him.
HM Plant Honda Racing has also contracted
British Supersport Champion Karl Harris to
defend his title on the all-conquering CBR600RR.
The services of the talented 24-year-old Yorkshireman
have been retained following a superb 2003
season when he won the ultra-competitive,
12-round series by the comfortable margin
of 43 points.
Honda Racing also confirmed that Red Bull
would extend its partnership with the manufacturer
to become principle sponsor of the team -
this is in addition to the Red Bull Rookies
Honda youth development programme, which was
announced before Christmas.
Honda Racing and Red Bull have already joined
forces to develop the latent talent of young
British motorcycle racers to become the stars
of tomorrow. Eugene Laverty (17) and Steven
Neate (16) have been selected to compete in
the British 125cc Championship with Jonathan
Rea (16) ascending to the Supersport category.
HM Plant Honda Racing and Red Bull Rookies
Honda will be based at Honda Racing's headquarters
at Louth in Lincolnshire. Each team will embark
on a full pre-season test schedule to prepare
for their forthcoming championship challenges
before the first round at Silverstone on 28
March.
Neil Tuxworth, Race Team Manager, Honda Racing:
"Honda Racing is delighted to welcome HM Plant
and Red Bull as three-year partners of the
team. We are all looking forward to embarking
on one of the most exciting projects ever
undertaken in the sport - the development
of the new CBR1000RR, the defence of the Supersport
title and the possible development of future
British and World Champions." John Jones,
Chairman, HM Plant: "HM Plant has made a strategic
decision to support Honda Racing in the British
Superbike Championship. The performance, reliability
and technology inherent with Hitachi's range
of construction equipment are replicated by
the underlying values of motorsport. We are
also looking forward to exploring our business
relationship with Honda UK, promoting HM Plant
to a wider audience and further developing
customer relationships across our ten regional
depots in tandem with the British Superbike
calendar."
Linda Pelham, Motorsports Manager, Red Bull:
"The whole ethos of the Red Bull brand is
behind nurturing young talent and projecting
their natural abilities onto a higher level.
The new team and partnership with Honda Racing
is without doubt the best hope that we have
for the future development of young British
motorcycle racers. The levels of technical
and promotional support will hopefully ensure
that being a member of the team becomes a
top priority for the stars of tomorrow and
gives them an excellent opportunity to fulfil
their dreams."
Honda Racing Team
HM Plant is the UK's official distributor
of Hitachi Construction Equipment. In addition,
the Bridgwater-based company has been recognised
as Hitachi's biggest distributor in Europe.
These accolades don't come lightly of course
and HM Plant has come a long way since it
was founded in 1979. While its relationship
with Hitachi has remained, HM Plant has expanded
its network of depots nationwide and forged
links with other leading suppliers within
the construction industry.
The Hitachi Zaxis excavator range is the
main focus of attention for HM Plant as it
reinforces its position in the UK market.
It has close ties to the Japanese company
and the recently opened European production
plant in Holland.
The bond that has been established between
the two companies over the past 25 years also
ensures that HM Plant's customers receive
the highest level of customer service and
product support. With ten depots from as far
north as Cumbernauld to Wrotham in the south-east,
and a sub-dealer in the Republic of Ireland
and Northern Ireland, HM Plant has a high
level of commitment to its customers on a
regional basis.
HM Plant also supplies Dynapac rollers, Merlo
telescopic handlers, Bell dump trucks and
Metalogenia bucket teeth to its customer base.
HM Plant's partnership with Honda Racing
is a key part of its marketing strategy over
the next three years. After three successful
years in the Superbike World Championship,
HM Plant has now made a huge commitment to
Honda Racing's British Superbike Championship
campaign.
Red Bull's name has been synonymous with
British Superbike racing for eight exciting
seasons and in 2001, with a focus on nurturing
young riders, the Red Bull Rookies 125 team
was formed, running successfully for the last
two years.
Joining with Honda Racing is the perfect
way to evolve the programme and there is now
a three-tier structure for young riders to
progress, enabling Red Bull's goal of 'fuelling
future champions' to be achieved.
If young, talented riders can progress through
the ranks to ultimately become the next British
or World Champion, it will prove that the
initiative is a success.
Michelin holds world championships in all
categories of two and four-wheeled sport including
MotoGP, world superbikes, trials, rally driving,
Paris Dakar, Formula 1 and cycling. The global
leader has a 19.6 per cent market share on
the world tyre market.
The company has commercial facilities in
over 170 countries and more than 70 manufacturing
sites in 18 different countries. It has an
annual output of 190 million tyres and 22
million maps and guides. It also has a technology
centre and six natural rubber plantations.
Michelin is the tyre choice for the new Honda
Racing CBR1000RR Superbike in 2004.
Dunlop plays an integral role in the world
of motorsport, from Grand Prix to rallying,
superbikes to motocross, and almost anything
in between.
On two wheels, Dunlop has dominated the 125
and 250cc Grand Prix classes and is renowned
as a major force in Superbike, endurance and
production classes worldwide.
Situated in Birmingham, England, the world
famous Ford Dunlop plant specialises in car
and motorsport tyre production. Dunlop is
the tyre choice for Honda Racing's 600 and
125cc machines.
Dunlop specialises in producing tyres for
cars, four-wheel drives, trucks, vans, buses,
coaches, motorcycles, agricultural equipment,
earthmovers, vintage machinery and of course
motorsport.
Sonneti is an established fashion brand,
which has been in the UK for 23 years. The
brand aims to design and deliver clothing
and accessories to fashion conscious men and
women. The clothes are jeans and casual wear
and are designed with a global perspective,
gleaning influences and trends from around
the world.
Sonneti Managing Director George Rashbrook
comments: "We believe that this association
will appeal to our customer and differentiate
us from our competitors. I look forward to
developing our relationship with Honda and
motorcycle sport."
Castrol is delighted to sponsor Honda Racing
in the British Superbike and Supersport Championships
in 2004. The sponsorship extends the global
business and racing relationship built between
Castrol and Honda over the past two decades
- a relationship that has seen unparalleled
success in motorcycle racing.
Castrol is excited at the prospect of further
success in 2004, and is delighted to provide
the team with market leading products, including
the revolutionary engine oil developed with
Honda, which helped Karl Harris secure the
2003 British Supersport Championship - something
Castrol is very proud of.
EdgeCAM® is a simple to use, Windows® based
CAM system specifically designed for the busy
machine shop environment. Pathtrace Engineering
Systems, the developers of EdgeCAM, have over
20 years of experience, gained by working
with more than 20,000 users around the world.
The system is designed with the requirements
of manufacturers of complex parts in mind
and is loaded with new technology, which enables
cost conscious manufacturers to use the power
and performance normally only found in a high-priced
CAM system.
EdgeCAM offers the best in class prismatic
machining combined with powerful 3D solid
and surface machining strategies, all in one
solution.
With Honda Racing pushing out the competitive
boundaries in its quest for the 2004 British
Superbike and Supersport Championships, the
capability to produce top quality components
is paramount at the manufacturing facility
in Louth, Lincolnshire.
Leading machine tool supplier 600 Centre
of Shepshed near Loughborough has entered
into a sponsorship agreement with Honda Racing.
The package supplied to Honda Racing comprises
two of the latest Fanuc Alpha Robodrill T21i
DC vertical machining centres. One machine
is interfaced with a Nikken rotary table to
provide a four-axis capability. As part of
the package, 600 Centre also supplied fixturing
and tooling to enable a wide range of high
quality parts to be manufactured.
600 Centre Director and General Manager,
Tim Hately said: "The fact that Honda Racing
selected the 600 Centre and Fanuc machines
is a real endorsement of the product. The
Robodrill is not only a production drilling
centre, but the latest version also has significantly
upgraded software and drives to enable high
class milling of three-dimensional complex
profiles in a wide range of materials."
