It appears Honda may have already forgotten the achievements of
Colin Edwards last season - where the Texan came back from a seemingly impossible points deficit to win the World Superbike title in thrilling fashion, from
Troy Bayliss, at the Imola finale.
Speaking at Honda's annual competition launch in Tokyo this week, Senior Managing Director Takeo Fukui talked about Honda's achievements last season in what he referred to as the "top'' motorcycle and car championships...
Actually, make that
nearly all Honda's achievements - viewers with specialist detective training may just spot the absence of one particular Honda mounted world champion, and the series he raced in as well:
"Looking back over our racing performance last year it is evident that, in
MotoGP and
F1 - the top motorcycle and car races in the world - we experienced both the thrill of victory and the bitterness of defeat," said Fukui at the launch. "I trust that, as Honda racing fans watched the MotoGP and F1 races on television, the joy they experienced watching the bikes helped dispel any disappointment over the performances of our F1 racers...
"...With the RC211V we won 14 of the 16 races, and
Valentino Rossi of Repsol Honda, who rode the bike to eleven of these victories, was crowned MotoGP champion.
"Of course, much of the credit for this achievement goes to the skill and tenacity of our riders and teams, but it also reconfirmed the notion that there's nothing like a highly competitive machine to bring it all together, letting everyone involved share in the dream and the sweet joy of victory.
"I'd now like to talk about our racing plans for this year..."
Edwards, a double Honda World Superbike Champion, was overlooked for a GP ride by HRC despite winning both the title and the Suzuka 8 Hours. He will now ride Aprilia's RS Cube alongside
Noriyuki Haga in this year's MotoGP championship.
