CONTENT COPYRIGHT HONDA / HRC
TOKYO, Japan, September 13, 2024 - Team HRC, a Honda factory team*1 operated by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), will compete with the RTL ELECTRIC trial bike in the International A Super (IAS) Class of the MFJ*2 All Japan Trial Championship series beginning with Round 6, Yuasa, Wakayama.
*1 Factory team: Racing team managed by the bike manufacturer. For Honda, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) manages its factory teams
*2 MFJ: Motorcycle Federation of Japan
The RTL ELECTRIC is Honda’s first competition electric trial bike, newly developed based on the technology and know-how gained from the Montesa COTA 4RT factory bike which is competing in the FIM*3 Trial World Championship and has helped Toni Bou win 18 consecutive titles. Development of the RTL ELECTRIC also inherits electric (motor, battery) know-how from the CR ELECTRIC PROTO, which began competing in this year’s FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, a world competition for electric off-road bikes.
2004 FIM Trial World Championship winner and current Repsol Honda Team manager Takahisa Fujinami (Mie, Japan, age: 44) is acting as RTL ELECTRIC development rider, and will ride in Round 6, Yuasa.
Honda is committed to the electrification of motorcycles as the mainstay of its future environmental strategy, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in all of its products and corporate activities by 2050, and in all of its motorcycle products by the 2040s. In order to respond to diversifying customer needs, Honda will further advance its technology by taking on the challenge of electrification in trials as well as motocross.
*3 Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
■Takahisa Fujinami | RTL ELECTRIC Development Rider
“I am very happy to be involved in Honda’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality through trials. Electric trial bikes have infinite possibilities, and I would like to use my experience as a rider to work with the development team to make the machine even better. Since I am not yet returning to active duty as a rider, I am limited to being a development rider, but I am looking forward to riding in front of my Japanese fans for the first time in a long while!”
■Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation
“This year, Honda began competing in the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, a new category of electric off-road motorcycle racing. We have now decided to enter the All Japan Trial Championship as well with RTL ELECTRIC. By increasing the number of categories in which we race electric motorcycles, we will hone our competitive skills, accumulate know-how and knowledge, and further accelerate the development of our human resources. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Takahisa Fujinami for his full support in this project!”
■Team Overview
Team: Team HRC
Bike: RTL ELECTRIC
Rider: Takahisa Fujinami
Minder: Carles Barneda Romans*4
*4 He is currently Tony Bou’s minder and was his minder for a long time during Takahisa Fujinami’s playing days.
■About Takahisa Fujinami
Birth date: January 13, 1980 (44 years old)
Birthplace: Mie Prefecture, Japan
■Career Highlights
1993
Debuted in All Japan Trial Championship / International B class
1995
All Japan Trial Championship / International A class: champion
1998
Trial World Championship: 4th, All Japan Trial Championship / IAS: champion
1999
Trial World Championship: 2nd, All Japan Trial Championship / IAS: champion
2000
Trial World Championship: 2nd, All Japan Trial Championship / IAS: champion
2001
Trial World Championship: 2nd, All Japan Trial Championship / IAS: champion
2004
Trial World Championship: champion
2021
Retired from Trial World Championship after 26 years
Trial World Championship: Trials: 355, Wins: 34
2022
Team Manager for Honda’s factory team, Repsol Honda Team
