To celebrate the launch of several new and hotly anticipated models, Honda (UK) is thrilled to announce the 2013 Win Big Weekend.
This event will be taking place at Bob Minion Motorcycles on Saturday 20th April and represents your chance to see some of our new-for-2013 models for the first time, as well as win one of many exciting prizes on offer.
In keeping with last year’s event, there will be plenty of great prizes up for grabs. The new Honda MSX125 street bike is on the horizon, with an OTR price of £2,600 having been only recently confirmed. By registering for a prize, you could be one of the first to get your hands on one of these funky, little machines, with four up for grabs.
Other great prizes, including VIP tickets to British Superbike and British Touring Car Championship rounds, hundreds of Honda Original Goods clothing prizes, including stylish T-shirts and vintage hoodies are also on offer.
For your chance to win, simply visit www.honda.co.uk/winbig, register for a code and present this to a member of staff at your Bob Minion Motorcycles on Saturday 20th April 2013. Couldn’t be simpler!
Visit us during the Win Big Weekend to see our new machines for 2013, including the cool retro-styled CB1100, the awesome new CBR600RR and the all-new ‘A2’ licence-friendly CBR500R and CB500F. As well as the new models, we now have our brand new 2013 clothing range in store, and to make it even better we’re offering a massive 10% discount on all clothing, helmets and accessories on the day!
We hope to see you there!
Samsung Honda Heads to Season Opener at Brands Hatch
4 April 2013
Samsung Honda heads to Brands Hatch, Kent, this weekend (5-7 April) for the opening round of the British Superbike Championship. Ryuichi Kiyonari makes a welcome return to Honda and BSB, while his new team-mate Alex Lowes will debut for the team in the Superbike class. The opening event also kicks off the team’s campaign in the British Supersport Championship with Jason O'Halloran aboard the new CBR600RR.
Following a year away from the UK that saw him win the 2012 Asia Road Racing Championship, three-time British Superbike Champion Kiyonari returns with his sights set firmly on an unprecedented fourth crown. The Japanese ace is joined by BSB race winner Alex Lowes, who had an impressive campaign onboard the CBR1000RR Fireblade last season.
O’Halloran meanwhile joins to the British Supersport Championship after competing with the team in the Superstock 1000 class and is relishing the return to the 600cc grid. The Australian has previously been a title winner in the Australian Supersport class and is ready to showcase the new Honda model in a bid for the British title.
Havier Beltran, Team Manager
The Samsung Honda team is looking forward to the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch. Pre-season testing wasn’t as fruitful as we would have liked because of the weather conditions, so we still have some work at the opening rounds, but this is no doubt the case for everyone. We’ve an exciting season ahead with a new line-up in the Superbike class with Kiyo and Alex and also returning to Supersport with Jason.
Ryuichi Kiyonari
I am looking forward to the first races of the season but I am also a bit nervous; I always get nervous before the start of a season! It’s exciting for me to be back in the championship with Samsung Honda - testing has been good, but now all I want to do is race. I’ve come back to get good results again for myself, the team and the British fans. I want to show that I’m not finished, that I can be faster and can win again. There are many good riders in the championship like Shakey, Alex (Lowes) and Josh (Brookes) so it won’t be easy, but I’ll be trying very, very hard to win again.
Alex Lowes
I feel like I’m really prepared for the start of the season; even after our first test I felt I was riding like I did at the end of last year. I’m feeling good and I’m not worried that the weather wasn't the best at the tests because I’m happy with myself and the team and when I’m in that situation that’s when I tend to be quick. We’ve had testing but racing is completely different and I can't wait to get started as I think from the start everyone is going to be really close.
Jason O’Halloran
This weekend is my first race back in Supersport after a few years and I’m looking forward to the season. We have had some testing that has given me the chance to make the transition back from 1000cc to the 600cc and also the new model for this season which has some big improvements. I’ve a new crew chief in Paul (Williamson) and we have been working well alongside some of my old crew so it has been a positive start. It has been a long winter and there is a lot of hype around Supersport so I can’t wait to get started. I believe in myself and the Samsung Honda team to be serious contenders.
Team HRC Take 100% Finish in Dakar 2013
After having covered 8,420 kilometres on all kinds of terrain throughout 14 hard stages, from Peru to Chile passing through Argentina, Helder Rodrigues, Javier Pizzolito and Johnny Campbell finished today’s final stage reaching the target: Santiago.
The protagonists of the 2013 Dakar had to maintain their concentration for the very last 346 km of a fast stage on stony and hard ground. Only 53 seconds separated Helder Rodrigues, fourth, from stage winner Chaleco Lopez who finished ahead of Faria and Barreda. With Javier Pizzolito,15th and Johnny Campbell 21st, Team HRC celebrated two riders in the top ten overall with Rodrigues and Pizzolito in 7th and 8th place respectively and Johnny Campbell 40th, while Cyril Despres sealed his fifth Dakar title.Having the complete team at the end of the toughest rally in the world was the result of perfect team work with the three Team HRC riders, helping and supporting each other, stage after stage.
When the project started six months ago, the challenge was to be at the starting blocks in Lima with a completely new team and a new machine. Team HRC engineers worked very hard to prepare a competitive machine and on the 5th of January Helder Rodrigues, Javier Pizzolito and Johnny Campbell set off for the 2013 Dakar on board of their CRF 450 Rally.
In a race where a navigation mistake or a small mechanical failure can spoil the whole result, some fuel issues on the second and third days made Team HRC riders lose valuable time and the contact with the first riders. Despite that, Helder Rodrigues, Javier Pizzolito and Johnny Campbell continued to fight and recover positions.
Rodrigues was ready to attack on stage 11 to close the gap from the front runners, when a branch caught a wire of the machine, ripping it out and stopping his machine. It was a small problem that had big consequences as Helder had given an incredible performance that would have allowed him to make a big step forward towards the podium.
Team mate Pizzolito gave also a great performance. Javier was very good at preserving the machine and his condition, riding with a constant pace throughout the whole rally on the same engine.
Johnny Campbell couldn’t take advantage of his experience due to a mechanical problem on the third stage that made him lose more than 3 hours, but he scored the team’s best result with a great second place on the 8th stage. Unfortunately a crash the following day compromised his second part of the race, but Johnny continued until the end despite the intense pain from suspected broken ribs.
Samsung Honda Announce 2013 Rider Line-up
10 December 2012
Three-time British Superbike Champion aboard Honda machinery, Ryuichi Kiyonari, makes a much-anticipated return to the team with which he enjoyed so much success, taking British championship titles in 2006, 2007 and 2010. Kiyonari is tied on overall championships with reigning British Superbike Champion, Shane Byrne – both riders with three championships to their name – and with that, the 2013 season is already shaping up to be a titanic battle for overall supremacy as both riders challenge to be the one who adds a fourth to their tally.
He is joined in the Samsung Honda team by the young, hard-charging Alex Lowes, a rider bristling with talent and ambition. He was the one to watch during the 2012 championship Showdown, taking four podiums and a double race win at Silverstone, with arguably the move of the season to take victory in the second Superbike race of the day. Lowes is a rider who is also more than capable of mounting a challenge on the 2013 British Superbike crown.
Both Ryuichi Kiyonari and Alex Lowes will compete in the British Superbike class aboard the legendary CBR1000RR Fireblade. In addition, Honda (UK) is pleased to announce a return in an official capacity to the British Supersport Championship with the Samsung Honda team. The new-for-2013 CBR600RR will be piloted in the series by the versatile and supremely fast Jason O’Halloran. Jason has experience riding Honda machinery in a variety of top-flight championships including British Superbikes and the Endurance World Championship. He was also runner up in the tightly-contested British Superstock 1000 championship in 2012 for the Samsung Honda team.
Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I am so happy to be returning to this team and to this championship. I have had great success in this series and am keen to repeat this once again. I really love the British fans and feel at home here. They love their racing in the UK and really get behind the riders. I have been away for a year and have had time to think about a lot of things. I kept coming back to the idea that I wanted to race in the UK again and am really fired up for the challenge and about the prospect of a fourth championship title!”
Alex Lowes: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining the official Honda team for the 2013 season. They are well established and the most successful team in the BSB paddock. I really do believe that in this team I will have the package to help me further develop as a rider and to fight for podiums, race wins and also for the championship. I know the Fireblade well, having ridden it in BSB this season and also in World Superbikes in 2011 and I feel like it is my bike. It’s my time to shine and can’t wait to get started.”
Jason O’Halloran: “It is an interesting direction to move into British Supersport for me but I have experience in that class, winning the Australian Supersport Championship in 2007 was a highlight of my career. I really enjoy riding the smaller bike and in many ways my style is suited to Supersport. I am excited to get on the new-for-2013 CBR600RR and it is the ideal time to make a statement in the championship with a new bike, which I am sure I can make.”
Team Manager, Havier Beltran: “We are very happy to announce what we think is a supremely strong rider line-up in both Superbike and Supersport. With Kiyo returning we know we have a rider who is a proven winner and we hope to get the best out of him once again. Alex Lowes is a young, exciting rider on so many levels and has the potential to become one of the greats. With Jason, you know what you get, hard-work, dedication and above all speed. He is the ideal rider to spearhead the Supersport programme, a championship we last competed in, and won in 2009, and want to win again! We have a hunger for more silverware and are confident we have the right people in place in the team to make this happen.”
The Samsung Honda team, now entering their second year of partnership with title sponsor Samsung, begin their UK based testing programme in March 2013, ahead of the first race of the season from 5-7 April at Brands Hatch, Kent.
For further information, images, videos and behind the scenes access to the Samsung Honda team and its riders, visit www.honda-racing.co.uk follow /samsunghonda on Facebook or @samsunghonda on Twitter.