On the occasion of the presentation of the 2022 racing season, Honda has launched the new Hrc logo, which from today blends the world of two wheels with that of four. Here is the history and the most iconic means
Officially, Hrc (Honda Racing Corporation) is the racing department of the Tokyo house, but by enthusiasts it is considered the Olympus of competitions, the Mecca of motor engineering, the paradise of two and four-wheeled technology. In short, a real place of worship where the most performing, and often winning, vehicles in the history of motorsport are designed, developed and baked. Three letters and three symbolic colors that, starting from the early 70s, invaded the racing world and from this year they change their face with a new logo to symbolize the second revolutionary evolutionary leap of the racing department most famous in the world.
HOW THE NEW LOGO IS MADE
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There is no compromise on the three colors and on this front Honda wanted to respect the history of the legendary brand. The new Hrc logo, already present on the rally bikes that have concluded the Dakar, is therefore always noted for the presence of red at the top and blue (now slightly darker) at the bottom, with a clear white line to break in two the initials. The characters, however, have a more modern and slender design: in fact, the square shapes of the past logo have been made softer by smoothing the corners of the three letters, increasing the thickness of the white frame and tilting the writing a few degrees to the right. The result is very fascinating and not only in aesthetic terms: the Honda Racing Corporation, which has always been an all-round two-wheel racing department (MotoGP, Superbike, motocross and trial), expands its development horizon also to four wheels, as a fusion between the two worlds. For this reason, in Formula 1, despite the official release of Honda, we will continue to talk about the collaboration of HRC with Red Bull through the Acura brand.
THE HISTORY OF HRC (PART 1)
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The racing experience of the Golden Wing Company began well before the birth of HRC. We are in the early 1960s and Honda is already able to establish itself against the European manufacturers that dominated the Grand Prix in the decade of previous seasons. The bikes were red and silver, with a small gold-colored mustache on the side fairing: a livery that still has an impact today, symbolizing the first great successes of the Japanese brand in World GP races. The first tricolor motorcycle – white, red and blue – made its debut in 1973, at the Daytona 200 miles, a race dedicated to production derivatives. The CB750 driven by Morio Sumiya did not yet have logos of a particular racing department but, from that same year, the Racing Service Center (signed Rsc), the official team that managed the sports activities of the brand, became a separate entity from Honda Motor Co. Ltd with its own dedicated symbol. From 1974 a tricolor coat of arms began to appear to replace the previous one in green with a black background, but often red is replaced with yellow / orange, confirming that the color combination had not yet been defined. In 1976, inspired by the aforementioned 750, the head of the European Endurance Honda project, Masakazu Matsuzawa, decides to dress the Rcb1000 with the three iconic colors: the team wins all the races in which it participates, making that team gain more and more popularity. mix of colors that will soon become the symbol of HRC.
THE HISTORY OF HRC (PART 2)
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With the return to the World Speed Championship in 1979, after almost ten years of absence, Honda surprises doubly: in fact, in addition to the announcement, it decides to field a four-stroke motorcycle with “oval” pistons to contrast the monstrous two-strokes of the time . The NR500, obviously lined up with tricolor graphics, was such an innovative project that it needed a little more development to be able to compete with the rivals, therefore, the first success came only in 1981, at the Suzuka 200 miles. The results are struggling to arrive and the following year the Golden Wing manufacturer decides to return to the mixture prototypes and gets to work on the legendary three-cylinder NS500, grandmother of the future NSR500. Just in ’82, more precisely on September 1, the Honda Racing Corporation was officially founded, which replaces the Rsc. The only mission is to develop, produce and sell motorcycles and components for racing, both on asphalt and off-road. Thus begins the myth of HRC.
THE HRC EMPIRE
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When we talk about HRC, we talk about Empire. And not only for the symbolic weight of these three letters within the racing world. Hrc, as a Honda racing department, is an engineering superpower without equal. A development center where the performance limit of vehicles is sought, both in terms of motors, cycling and electronics (today). Especially in the first twenty years of activity, the decisions taken within the company were law, as the goal was to demonstrate one’s technological superiority by winning tenders, creating a new generation of designers and always proposing revolutionary technology. And it is also thanks to this philosophy that today, in the world of racing, Honda Hrc branded vehicles are among the most surprising and victorious in history.
DOMAIN AT TWO AND FOUR TIMES
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The birth of HRC gave an important turning point in the presence of the Tokyo house in motorsport and the numbers speak for themselves: only in the premier class of the World Championship, from 1982 to today, Honda has taken home 21 world titles, more than half of the racing seasons. Among the most iconic racing vehicles ever designed there is certainly the aforementioned NS500, a three-cylinder two-stroke that in 1983 won the World Championship with Freddie Spencer. The following year it was joined by the legendary Nsr500. The engine was a V4, always with a mixture-based power supply, but the particular thing is that the tank was positioned at the bottom, under the block, so as to lower the center of gravity, while the exhausts passed over, inside a cover. in the shape of a traditional tank. An extreme choice, perhaps too much: in fact, in addition to varying the dynamics of the bike as the petrol dropped (radically varying the weight distribution during the race), the heat of the four expansions literally cooked the rider, so much so that from the following year Honda returned to more conventional solutions. From here begins the domination of the Japanese two-stroke, which remains among the bikes to beat until 2001, the year of the last season dedicated only to 500 GPs, won by Valentino Rossi with the Nsr500. The era of MotoGP begins, the modern four-stroke prototypes, which seem to have been insistently wanted by the manufacturer of the Golden Wing. In fact, the RC211V, mother of the current RC213V, was a revolutionary project, developed by HRC with the support of Honda itself (to make you understand the weight of the maneuver). We know the results: the five-cylinder was three steps above the others and number 46, then the top driver of the Repsol Honda team, scored a double in both 2002 and 2003, reaching the podium 31 times out of 32 races.
FROM TRACK TO ROAD (part 1)
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HRC is synonymous with racing, but this logo has also had a strong influence in the world of production derivatives. In fact, even if most of the production bikes we know today are the result of Honda, often, when it comes to high performance, even a giant like Honda has relied on the support of its racing department to dominate the scene. The Vfr750R RC30 is one of the most iconic examples: the first hypersport ever produced, launched in 1987, conquered for the technical refinement of each of its components. The aluminum frame with single-sided swingarm embraced a 90 ° V4, four-stroke, four-valve-per-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine powered by Mikuni carburetors for a maximum power of 112 hp at 11,000 rpm, a record for the time. . It was produced in 3,500 copies and still today makes you dream for the avant-garde solutions and the famous tricolor graphics.
FROM TRACK TO ROAD (PART 2)
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Then it was the turn of the NR750, in honor of the past racing NR500. The fairing built with HRC in 1992 in only 322 units is still an overwhelming motorcycle. The massive dimensions were due to the power unit that hid under there, a four-cylinder with oval pistons with 32 valves and eight connecting rods for 125 HP, a bit like a V8. A “crazy” project, enhanced by the extensive use of rare materials such as carbon, magnesium and titanium. Finally, to mention the latest creation signed by HRC, there is the new Honda. The legendary Fireblade has always fascinated for its performance combined with ease of use even on the road. Unfortunately, these qualities have always limited her in terms of pure performance on the racing fields, so in 2020 came the latest generation of the Japanese superbike which, with the support of the engineers of the Honda Racing Corporation, sharpened its claws. The result is an extreme sports car, with a decidedly aggressive look and capable of reaching 217.5 HP of maximum power at 14,500 rpm, obviously with original and homologated exhaust, license plate, headlights and mirrors …
January 17 – 09:41
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