OFFICIAL PROGRAMME taken by Honda ,” said Kuwata-san . “ We began with the usual market research for the new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade a few years prior to the launch of the machine . The model is centred around racing performance and the WorldSBK Championship is the world ’ s fastest production-based series , so the racing project subsequently took shape . We thought the best approach to the championship was to enter with a factory team .” Not just for Honda , but for any factory , what does Honda see in WorldSBK ? “ Racing has been part of our Company ’ s philosophy right from its conception , the goal being to fight for the win , of course , and also to achieve the highest level of technological excellence in the process , so as to transfer this to our products . The WorldSBK series offers the possibility to pursue both these goals in a very effective way , because the motorcycles that race in this category are basically tuned versions of those you see on the road , available and on sale to the public . It ’ s true that the rules within which our engineers can manoeuvre in carrying out the development are very restrictive and , while on the one hand this makes their work quite difficult , on the other hand it poses challenges that allow them to continuously improve their own skills and the technological level of our machines .” Honda already races in many forms of road racing , so what makes WorldSBK so different ? Every championship in which we compete has its own peculiarities and each one offers something special ,” confirmed Kuwata-san . “ As for the road-racing field , it ’ s clear that for motorcyclists , WorldSBK offers a direct link between the bikes they ride and the ones they see competing on the track . In addition , thanks to the way the championship is organised , SBK fans have significant access to the paddock and to their idols , able to enter directly into areas that are normally only accessible to Teams and a few guests . Unfortunately , this has not been possible in the last two years due to the Covid situation , but we hope in the future to go back to normal .” Not all about the metal , of course , but the human touch too . Despite all the restrictions touched on before , to ensure a level playing field in WorldSBK , is WorldSBK still a good ‘ training ground ’ for engineers ? Especially the relatively free electronics landscape ? “ Yes , this is a good point ,” said Kuwata . “ Whereas other areas of development in SBK are quite limited , the electronics side allows for much more freedom compared to other categories and this is quite interesting for us . We can develop our own strategies and technology , and this prompts our engineers to evolve and find solutions that we can later transfer to our products .”
The entire WorldSBK paddock walked a little taller , breathed a little deeper when Honda , in the form of an official HRC direct official team , arrived back in WorldSBK after a long hiatus .
EXCITING CONTENT
“ WorldSBK is a natural environment for Kawasaki .”
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