This article is about Honda's motorsport subsidiary. For an overview of Honda's motorsport history, seeHonda in motorsport. For Honda's factory MotoGP team, seeHonda HRC Castrol. For Honda's North American motorsport subsidiary, seeHonda Racing Corporation USA.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known asHonda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of theHonda Motor Company formed in 1982.[3] From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda'smotorcycle racing activities, before the brand'sautomobile racing activities were integrated into HRC's scope of work on 1 April 2022.[4]
The company combines participation in motorcycle and automobile races throughout the world with the development of racing machines. In addition to promoting the Honda brand and entertaining fans, its racing activities provide a platform for training engineers and contribute to the development of technologies used in Honda products. HRC activities also include sales of racing vehicles, support for customer andsatellite teams, and driver/rider education programmes.
HRC has been competing inGrand Prix motorcycle racing since the company's inception, winning over 20constructors' titles in the premier class. It has also been involved inFormula One as a power unit manufacturer since 2022; in 2023, theHonda RBPTH001 unit claimed 21 wins in 22 races. In February 2023, theFIA confirmed thatHonda, through HRC, would be a power unit manufacturer for the new regulations in 2026.[5]
Initially, Honda's racing efforts were run from within the company. In 1973, the Racing Service Center (RSC) was created as a separate company involved in motorcycle racing. RSC was involved in the development and supply of racing bikes for domestic competitions, and in 1976 it began participating in the European endurance championship, which later became theFIM Endurance World Championship in 1980. In1979, Honda returned toGrand Prix motorcycle racing with theNR500 bike developed by the NR block development team within Honda R&D. On 1 September 1982, the NR block and RSC were merged to form Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), which would be responsible for all of Honda's motorcycle racing programmes.[6][7]
The addition of the NR block's pure racing machine development structure to the RSC's organisational structure, which had supported the activities of privateers by developing production-based works machines and supplying racing parts, created an efficient structure as a specialist company involved in the entire range of motorcycle racing activities from the top to the bottom. At the same time, the base for racing activities in Europe, which had its origins in theIsle of Man TT race in1959, was moved from the island nation of Great Britain to mainland Europe in Belgium for greater convenience.Shoichiro Irimajiri, who was the general manager of the NR block, was appointed as the first president. By making HRC a separate company specialising in racing, the company was able to achieve continuous racing activities that were less dependent on the performance of the head office.
In an unusual move, the company developed and manufactured theRN-01, a dedicatedmountain bike fordownhill racing, and participated in competitions including the JCF Mountain Bike Japan Series andUCI Mountain Bike World Cup between 2003 and 2007.[8] The material processing technology acquired during this time was utilised in the development of the seamless transmission for motorcycles, which was first used in theRC212V.
On 1 April 2022, Honda's automobile racing activities were integrated into HRC's scope of work. As part of the integration, Honda's four-wheel motorsport development base HRD Sakura (a division of Honda R&D) was transferred to HRC and renamed HRC Sakura. The motorcycle division will remain based inAsaka, Saitama, while HRC Sakura (based inSakura, Tochigi) will act as the automobile division. In line with this, HRC will also be responsible forHonda's Formula One operations.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
On 24 May 2023, Honda announced that it would make a full-scale return toFormula One from2026 and supply works power units to theAston Martin team; HRC will be responsible for the development of F1 power units and for race entry and management on the Honda side.[15]
In December 2023, Honda's North American motorsport subsidiary, Honda Performance Development (HPD), becameHonda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US). With this change, the two independent motorsport subsidiaries will work together as one global HRC entity.[16][17]
In February 2024, a local subsidiary, HRC UK, was established in the United Kingdom as the European base for the return to F1 from 2026 onwards.[18]
HRC is currently competing in the premier class of MotoGP asHonda HRC Castrol. It also supplied engines to the Moto2 class as a designated supplier until 2018. In addition, it supplies works-specification vehicles to Honda customer teams in the Moto3 class.
HRC competed as a works team in the Superbike World Championship under the Castrol Honda banner until the end of2002. After that, other teams continued racing with Honda bikes. In2019, the works backing returned for the first time in 17 years, with full support for the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team, a joint team ofMoriwaki Engineering and Italy'sAlthea Racing. It was also announced that in2020, HRC itself will organise and enter a works team for the first time in 18 years.
From 2007, HRC resumed activities in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship, which continued until 2019, and from 2020 onwards it will concentrate on kit development for Honda teams. The team competed in the Superbike (SB) class until 2002 and in GP250 until 1999, with the exception of 1996.
From 2018, the HRC resumed its activities as a works team in the Suzuka 8 Hours for the first time in 10 years, winning the event in 2022. Eight of Honda's 10 consecutive victories in the event, which lasted from 1997 to 2006, were by HRC; from 1998 to 2006, the main sponsor was a tobacco brand (Lucky Strike in 1998 and 1999, Cabin in 2000–2002 and Seven Star in 2003–2006). The company continued to provide machines and support to private teams.
Honda won its first title in the 500cc class of the Motocross World Championship in1979. Since then, the manufacturer has won 39 riders' titles and is still competing.
Honda won its first title in the 250cc class of AMA Motocross in 1973 when it debuted in the motocross market with the two-stroke engine CR250M. It has continued to compete in AMA Motocross ever since.
All Japan Motocross Championship (JMX)
Team HRC ceased to compete as a works team in the All Japan Motocross Championship from 2020, but it will continue to support privateers.
HRC is currently competing in the Trial World Championship. It has a technical alliance with Spanish motorcycle manufacturerMontesa, with the works team entry named Repsol Montesa HRC.
At the request of Honda France, which was competing in the Dakar Rally, the team was provided with a modified XR500R machine from1982.Cyril Neveu won the Dakar Rally that year. In1986, the NXR750, a prototype machine with a liquid-cooled V-twin engine, was launched and won the rally four times in a row until1989. In1995, the team sent in a 400cc single-cylinder EXP-2 as an experimental machine with a two-stroke engine, which finished fifth overall and won the event in the under-500cc class. The company continued to provide support to riders on Honda vehicles, but in 2013 it returned as a works team for the first time in 24 years with the CRF450 Rally, which won theCross-Country Rallies World Championship that year. In2020, its eighth year back in the Dakar, HRC won the event overall for the first time in 31 years, and it repeated the feat the following year in2021. In the World Rally-Raid Championship, which was created in 2022, HRC won the manufacturers' title in2022,2023 and2024.
Originating as a project of Honda's North American subsidiary, the Baja 1000 desert race has been dominated by Honda since the late 1990s (in part due to the lack of rival works bikes), winning 17 consecutive events between 1997 and 2013.
HRC's involvement in Formula One began in2022, when it started supplying power units toRed Bull Racing andAlphaTauri throughRed Bull Powertrains (RBPT). The power units were previously developed and manufactured by the Honda Motor Company itself. In 2022, they were badged as RBPT units, and from 2023 they will be known asHonda RBPT units. HRC will continue to manufacture, assemble and supply the current power units until the end of 2025. From 2026, HRC will enter into a works contract with theAston Martin F1 team to supply power units; HRC will be responsible for the development of the F1 power units and for race entry and management on the Honda side.
HRC has participated in Super Formula, the premier category of open-wheel racing in Japan, since2022, when it took over the engine programme previously carried out by HRD Sakura. The project includes development and supply of 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-4 engines built to Nippon Race Engine (NRE) regulations. With theHR-417E engine, Honda'sTomoki Nojiri andTeam Mugen claimed the championship titles in HRC's first season in 2022.
Honda's GT500 class Super GT project was transferred from HRD Sakura to HRC in 2022. The programme includes aerodynamic and chassis development in addition to the engine, which is shared with Super Formula. The 2022 and 2023 seasons saw HRC campaign theNSX-GT, which in those years received revised front bodywork based on the road-going Type S model. In 2024, HRC introduced theCivic Type R-GT, which became the first four-door GT500 vehicle as well as the first to be based on a front-wheel-drive model, although the GT500 model is rear-wheel-drive. In 2026, the Civic will be replaced by thePrelude-GT.[19]
In 2022, HRC took over theNSX GT3 project and continued to offer the car to customer racing teams. The car received an Evo22 upgrade that year, having already been used in various GT3 competitions since 2017. Customer support for the car was handled by Mugen (M-TEC) in Japan, HRC US in North America, and JAS Motorsport in Europe and the rest of the world. HRC ended its factory support for the programme after 2024, with the car having claimed several accolades, including titles in theIMSA SportsCar Championship,Super GT,GT World Challenge America andLe Mans Cup, as well as victory atPetit Le Mans.
HRC assumed control of Honda's involvement in the customer-based TCR touring car category in 2022, withJAS Motorsport responsible for the programme. The FK7Civic Type R TCR continued to be available for customers in 2022, while a new FL5 Civic Type R TCR was introduced in 2023 with improvements in areas including aerodynamics, suspension, ergonomics, and weight.[20][21] By August 2024, the Civic TCR range had surpassed 500 wins globally and won over 90 titles.[22]
In 2023, Team HRC began participating in the experimental ST-Q class of the Super Taikyu Series with a carbon-neutral fuel compatible FL5 Civic Type R CNF-R. The team aims to learn about carbon-neutral fuel and develop cars and parts for customers.[23] Several other teams in the series also run production-based Honda vehicles.[24]
The HRC brand has also been involved in multiple series in North America since Honda Performance Development became Honda Racing Corporation USA for 2024. HRC US competes in theIndyCar Series as an engine manufacturer, producing 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engines with hybrid units for several teams. They also participate in the premier GTP class of theIMSA SportsCar Championship with theAcura ARX-06 prototype built toLMDh specifications. They are also involved inoff-road racing with theBaja Ridgelinetrophy truck, which competes in events such as theBaja 1000.
For the development of special racing motorcycles and parts Honda created a separate company in 1970 called Racing Service Center Corporation later renamed Honda Racing Corporation, which is also focused on research and development activities.[28] It combines racing around the world with the development of advanced racing cars. HRC's R&D activities include research to create new technologies, materials, designs and developments to translate these advances into commercial products.[29][30]
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