Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known as Honda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda's motorcycle racing activities, before the brand's automobile racing activities were integrated into HRC's scope of work on 1 April 2022. The company combines participation in motorcycle and automobile races throughout the world with the development of racing machines. In addition to promoting the Honda brand and entertaining fans, its racing activities provide a platform for training engineers and contribute to the development of technologies used in Honda products. HRC activities also include sales of racing vehicles, support for customer and satellite teams, and rider education programmes. HRC has been competing in Grand Prix motorcycle racing since the company's inception, winning over 20 constructors' titles in the premier class. It has also been involved in Formula One as a power unit manufacturer since 2022; in 2023, the Honda RBPTH001 unit claimed 21 wins in 22 races. In February 2023, the FIA confirmed that Honda, through HRC, would be a power unit manufacturer for the new regulations in 2026.

History

Exclusively involved in motorcycle racing (1982–2022)

Initially, Honda's racing efforts were run from within the company. In 1973, the Racing Service Center (RSC) was created as a separate company involved in motorcycle racing. RSC was involved in the development and supply of racing bikes for domestic competitions, and in 1976 it began participating in the European endurance championship, which later became the FIM Endurance World Championship in 1980. In 1979, Honda returned to Grand Prix motorcycle racing with the NR500 bike developed by the NR block development team within Honda R&D. On 1 September 1982, the NR block and RSC were merged to form Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), which would be responsible for all of Honda's motorcycle racing programmes. The addition of the NR block's pure racing machine development structure to the RSC's organisational structure, which had supported the activities of privateers by developing production-based works machines and supplying racing parts, created an efficient structure as a specialist company involved in the entire range of motorcycle racing activities from the top to the bottom. At the same time, the base for racing activities in Europe, which had its origins in the Isle of Man TT race in 1959, was moved from the island nation of Great Britain to mainland Europe in Belgium for greater convenience. Shoichiro Irimajiri, who was the general manager of the NR block, was appointed as the first president. By making HRC a separate company specialising in racing, the company was able to achieve continuous racing activities that were less dependent on the performance of the head office. In an unusual move, the company developed and manufactured the RN-01, a dedicated mountain bike for downhill racing, and participated in competitions including the JCF Mountain Bike Japan Series and UCI Mountain Bike World Cup between 2003 and 2007. The material processing technology acquired during this time was utilised in the development of the seamless transmission for motorcycles, which was first used in the RC212V.

Expansion into automobile racing (2022–present)

On 1 April 2022, Honda's automobile racing activities were integrated into HRC's scope of work. As part of the integration, Honda's four-wheel motorsport development base HRD Sakura (a division of Honda R&D) was transferred to HRC and renamed HRC Sakura. The motorcycle division will remain based in Asaka, Saitama, while HRC Sakura (based in Sakura, Tochigi) will act as the automobile division. In line with this, HRC will also be responsible for Honda's Formula One operations. On 24 May 2023, Honda announced that it would make a full-scale return to Formula One from 2026 and supply works power units to the Aston Martin team; HRC will be responsible for the development of F1 power units and for race entry and management on the Honda side. In December 2023, Honda's North American motorsport subsidiary, Honda Performance Development (HPD), became Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US). With this change, the two independent motorsport subsidiaries will work together as one global HRC entity. In February 2024, a local subsidiary, HRC UK, was established in the United Kingdom as the European base for the return to F1 from 2026 onwards.

Racing activities

Motorcycle racing

Automobile racing

Non-motorsport activities

HRC developed the Honda RN-01 G-cross mountain bike for downhill racing events. The RN-01 competed in events such as the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the mid-2000s, winning that competition in the downhill category in 2005 with Greg Minnaar. In 2023, HRC began holding its esports competition, known as Honda Racing eMS; the event takes place in Gran Turismo 7.

Research and development

For the development of special racing motorcycles and parts Honda created a separate company in 1970 called Racing Service Center Corporation later renamed Honda Racing Corporation, which is also focused on research and development activities. It combines racing around the world with the development of advanced racing cars. HRC's R&D activities include research to create new technologies, materials, designs and developments to translate these advances into commercial products.

User support

HRC has HRC Service Shops at 23 locations in Japan and seven sites overseas.