HRC announce partnership with Althea and Moriwaki for 2019
Big changes coming for the Japanese manufacturer in WorldSBK
It has been announced at EICMA this week that from 2019, Honda will participate in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as Honda Racing Coportation are set to collaborate with Althea and Moriwaki, with Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari preparing to do battle with the new team.
Aiming for a fresh start in the WorldSBK championship, the news this week sees HRC bring their full backing into the WorldSBK championship. The Japanese manufacturer are looking forward to starting a new relationship with Althea and Moriwaki, bringing the Fireblade CBR1000RR SP2 back on track.
Camier will be sticking with the machine for a second season in a row, and after a strong start to his season with the Fireblade before dealing with injury setbacks, the British rider is ready to tackle a new challenge with the same machine: “I am really excited, this is a massive opportunity and it’s massively exciting. For HRC to come back into World Superbike is incredible, and I’m really looking forward to getting started. The level of WorldSBK is really high, a lot higher than people realise, Rea has set the bar really high. Our plan is it improve and take it to Kawasaki at some point, we need to be competitive from the off. It’s a new team with new things coming together and a lot of things to work on. I feel the potential is there to be knocking on the podium.”
2019 will mark the return of a superbike legend, as Japanese Ryuichi Kiyonari will make his first WorldSBK start since 2009, when he was last on the grid with Honda. Bringing a host of experience with him, he explains: “First I am a bit surprised as are HRC coming back to Superbike, and I am surprised HRC called me. It’s been 10 years since I have ridden in SBK®, I am very happy to join this big project. I have two years of experience in WorldSBK - in 2008 and 2009 and it’s very competitive. It’s not easy to finish in the top six, but we have a good bike and a good team, if I can do a good job I hope I can get good results.”
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