Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA (HADR), a team formed when Honda’s Asia and Oceania subsidiaries joined forces, announced its plans for the 2020 motorcycle racing season at a press conference today prior to the weekend of FIM Endurance World Championships – 8 Hours of Sepang – at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.
In 2019, HADR finished in its inaugural Asia Superbike 1000cc class (ASB 1000) in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) with a remarkable 4th position in the team overall championship standings, while its sole rider Zaqwan Zaidi finished 3rd in the rider championship. The team also finished in 12th place in the Japan Superbike 1000cc class (JSB 1000) in the 2019 All-Japan Road Race Championship (JSB) and took 11th place in the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance Race.
In 2020, the team will continue to challenge in the ARRC ASB 1000 class with an aim to win a championship title. It will also participate in the JSB 1000 and Suzuka 8-hour Endurance Race targeting to finish in the best position. Makoto Tamada, the former winning MotoGP rider who has been managing the HADR team since it was formed, will continue in his role as team manager. Zaqwan Zaidi, the Malaysian ace rider and former champion of the SS600 class will continue pursuing the championship title with the team.
In addition, Gerry Salim, champion of the 2018 ARRC AP 250 class with Indonesia’s Astra Honda Racing Team, will join Zaqwan Zaidi, giving the team a two-riders starting next season.
Both HADR riders will compete on the Honda CBR1000RR-R, the new racing machine from the famous CBR series that was recently unveiled to the world at EICMA 2019. Using this model, HADR will be among the top teams to compete in Asia and Oceania.
Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA will strife to deliver the best results to realize the dream of having a Honda team and its riders become a challenger in the world-class motorcycle racing.
About Honda Motorcycle Racing in Asia and Oceania.
Honda continuously pursues the challenges of Motorcycle road racing in the Asia and Oceania region with an aim to develop world-class motorcycle riders and team mechanics from Asia. To achieve this goal, Honda is committed to creating a motorsport culture as well as developing the skills of riders and team mechanics throughout Asia.
In line with this commitment, Honda’s motorcycle subsidiaries in Asia and Oceania including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Philippines and Australia have been following the regional direction in their operations through a variety of motorsports activities in both local and international ones.
The most promising stars will move up to greater challenges by joining Honda’s Asian team for international races namely ARRC. Outstanding riders and mechanics from Honda’s Asian teams will ultimately have a chance to join Honda’s racing teams for world-class races like MotoGP.
Credits : Photos JH
