Honda Racing Corporation

Honda Racing Corporation
Type	Division
Industry	Motorcycle racing
Founded	1 September 1982
Headquarters	Asaka, Saitama, Japan; Aalst, Belgium; Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Key people	Yoshishige Nomura (president); Shuhei Nakamoto (vice president)
Products	Manufacture and sales of racing motorcycles and parts.
Services	Research and development of racing motorcycles and parts.
Parent	Honda
Website	Honda Racing Corporation

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is a division of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982.^[1] The company combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of high potential racing machines. Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of leading edge technologies used in the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC also contributes to the advancement of motorcycle sports through a range of activities that include sales of production racing motorcycles, support for satellite teams, and rider education programs.

History[]

Initially, Honda's racing efforts were run from within the company. In the early 1970s, the Racing Service Center (RSC) was created as a separate company to oversee racing. On September 1, 1982, RSC became HRC, and ran Honda's road racing, endurance, trials and motocross racing programs.

Research and development[]

The development of new Honda products involves research to generate new technologies, materials, design, and development to translate those advances into commercial products. Research is the first priority for HRC and Honda R&D MSD, because it is dedicated to the development of race-winning machines with focus on the creation of next generation technologies. New advances arising from these research efforts are quickly incorporated into factory racers. At the same time, HRC cooperates with Honda R&D to develop ways of applying the latest advances to the development of Honda's production motorcycles.

User support[]

HRC has HRC Service Shops at 23 locations in Japan and seven sites overseas. These shops offer extensive user support, ranging from the supply of kit parts, to troubleshooting and the provision of advice on machine settings. They also provide HRC with a valuable interface from which to gauge the expectations and aspirations of users and motorcycle sports fans. Information gathered through this conduit is used to improve support services and develop the production racers.