Honda Philippines Inc., the no. 1 motorcycle company in the Philippines, once again set the bar high in its quest to become the leading name in the field of motorsports. Last November 2022, they announced its Off-Road Motorsports Strategy. And this year, HPI further strengthened its commitment with a series of collaborations that aimed to intensify its racing brand as they launched its plan to go full throttle in the domestic and international racing scene last January 28, 2023.
Headed by its’ President Susumu Mitsuishi with the Motorsports Team, starting this year, HPI made the announcement at a recent event held at the Honda Safety Driving Center. The program highlights the unveiling of the strategies that aim to launch Filipino riders marked with a strong challenging spirit, determination to win, self-discipline, and perseverance as they compete in the World Championships.
With the company’s long and proud history in motorsports since 1959, Honda has been considered a force in motorsports, winning trophies both in local and international competitions.
In International racing competitions, HPI will continue to support racing teams together with other Honda Subsidiaries in Asia. Moto 2 and 3 Idemitsu Honda Team Asia. Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa that will be joining the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) ASB1000 class and the Suzuka 8 Hour with the participation of the first and only Filipino mechanic to join the crew.
The inspiring young Filipino racers Jakob Sablaya, NAMSSA’s 2022 Rider of the Year and Alfonsi Daquigan, TSR’s (Team Spirit Racing) Overall Champion were given a Plaque of Appreciation for their performance in the last year’s domestic racing competitions using the SupraGTR150 and CBR150R. “The “Honda racing spirit” is a testament to our commitment to winning by developing our people and technologies. With this in mind, we take on the exciting journey of training and developing Filipino young racers, in collaboration with SDG (Showa Denki Group) MS HARC-PRO Honda Ph,” says Mr. Mitsuishi.
As Domestic Racing will be the based activity for reaching Road to Champion / World Class races, HPI will continue to discover and support riders with the same level and quality of skills and talent by continuing to join the domestic racing competitions such as IRGP (Inside Racing Grand Prix), MotoIR Championship, Super Series, competitions, that young and aspiring riders will be able to improve their skills and develop their self – confidence in riding, competing with the other brands. And will be discovering a new set of young aspiring riders thru Honda Pilipinas Dream Cup (HPDC) program starting with the Try-Outs this 2023.
HARC-PRO, headed by Mr. Shigeki Honda was introduced and unveiled the collaboration with HPI during the event. The professional racing team, originated in Japan is popular for producing World Class talents such as Hiroshi Aoyama former GP250 World Champion and now Honda Team Asia’s Team Manager; Takaaki Nakagami of LCR Honda Team competing in MotoGP and a former Japan Road Racing Champion, and other famous and former MotoGP World Champions Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and Jack Miller including World Superbike’s (WSBK) Michael Van der Mark and Leon Haslam are also former HARC – PRO Suzuka 8 Hour Riders including former Moto 3 rider Yuki Kunii to name some few personalities. In the Philippines, it was established last 2021 located at Cabanatuan City Nueva Ecija.
HARC—PRO Ph in collaboration and support from HPI will be continuing to participate in ARRC under the team name SDG (SHOWA DENKI GROUP) MS HARC- PRO Honda Philippines with their Japanese riders in ASB1000, #73 Haruki Naguchi and AP250, #27 Chihiro Ishii. Also, they will be nurturing the very best young riders through scholarship training, one of the first for HPI, the 2023 Honda Young Riders Training Program (HYRTP) that will be instructed by World Class riders Yuki Kunii and Haruki Noguchi sharing their skills respectively starting this February 2023 at the Tarlac Circuit Hill using the CBR300R racing bikes.
“In this program, Filipino riders will now have a chance to achieve their dream to become World Class competitive riders participating in International races in the future.” Says Mr. Susumu Mitsuishi.
