26 years of Repsol Honda MotoGP racing motorcycles

26 years of Repsol Honda MotoGP racing motorcycles

With a racing history in modern times dating back 26 years, it can be argued the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) racing team, Repsol Honda Team, has been very successful. Its racing palmares include 15 MotoGP World Championships and 180 race wins at the top level of two-wheeled motorsport.

Malaysian motorcycle racing fans will remember the time, beginning in 1994, when Mick Doohan tore up Batu Tiga with the Honda NSR, a two-stroke 500 that had a reputation for spitting riders off and punishing the unwary. But it was good enough to take Doohan to five consecutive world championships from 1994 to 1998, followed by Repsol Honda team mate Spaniard Alex Criville in 1999.

Fan favourite Valentino Rossi then did a stint in the seat of the Honda RC211V with a 990cc engine and around 220hp, giving Repsol Honda a three-year winning streak in MotoGP from 2001 to 2003 before moving to cement his career with Yamaha while the late Nicky Hayden on the 800 cc Honda RC212V gave HRC a single word championship in 2006, and, alongside Australian Casey Stoner on a Ducati in 2007, punctuated Rossi’s dominance of MotoGP in the 2000’s.

Moving into the 2010’s, Stoner, riding the one-litre RC213V, was world champion in 2011, before retiring in 2012. This was followed by the rise of the “Spanish Inquisition” where the top rung was subjected to the dominance of Spanish riders.

26 years of Repsol Honda MotoGP racing motorcycles

The MotoGP world championship became a series of swaps between Jorge Lorenzo, then on a Yamaha YZR, and Marc Marquez, riding for Repsol Honda. Like him or loathe, Marc Marquez is currently the most dominant rider on the MotoGP grid, with six world championships under his belt riding the Honda RC213V and 51 race wins from 2013 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019.

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Mohan K Ramanujam

Coming with diverse and extensive experience in heavy engineering, Mohan enjoys making anything with wheels go fast, especially motorcycles. His weapon of choice is the Desmoquattro engine, and he has a penchant for anything with a dash of Italian design. Strangely enough, he insists he's a slow rider.

 

Comments

  • Aalldisc on Apr 29, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    Don’t forget to mention Marquez also won 1 time on moto2.. And 1 time in the junior class. Total 8 championships at the age of 28.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • marc is great..no doubt. but repsol already very strong team when he join. i really hope he switch to other manufacturer and do the rossi. anyone remember how shitty yamaha before rossi came?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • JOACHIM on Apr 30, 2020 at 10:21 am

      Like Mercedes AMG Petronas when Schumi just joined. If he’d stayed, he could’ve return to winning more championships.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • jay8393 on Apr 30, 2020 at 6:26 pm

        Problem is, Schumi only elected to return for 3 years in order to help Mercedes find their footing.

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  • vivizurianti on Apr 30, 2020 at 11:23 am

    Just with Repsol sticker only, it’ll adds 25 hp to the bike. Bigger Repsol sticker gives more gain!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • Batu tiga circuit is much better than sepang

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • heybadigol (Member) on Apr 30, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    Congratulations to a legendary team. Do miss Batu Tiga. Watched Doohan win there a few times. Just curious, didn’t Honda use HRC colours in 1994? Before using Repsol colours in 1995.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
 

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