Moriwaki Honda eyes MotoGP entry.

Team Moriwaki Honda was present at Motegi yesterday [Wednesday] with their prototype MD211VF racer - an RCV powered MotoGP machine, for an initial shakedown test in preparation for wild card entries in 2003.

Ridden by Masao Okuno (pictured), the Moriwaki chassis/HRC engine combination completed a full day of data recording laps on the damp circuit, where RCV new boy Nicky Hayden was also taking his first steps.

Speaking at the end of the days running, an emotional Team Owner, Mamoru Moriwaki, was content with his machines track outing but more moved by having seen his team's hard work rewarded.

"I'm filled with emotions right now, as I know how hard have everyone in the team has been working until today," confessed Moriwaki. "This is my first step to challenge the world, and I'm so happy. Of course we found various technical problems, but we expected that and to find problems is exactly what this test is for."

Moriwaki's team had been strongly linked with Peter Clifford's Red Bull WCM outfit for 2003, but when Red Bull switched allegiance to KTM's 125cc project for next year, Clifford was unable to find the money necessary to make the deal happen.

Nevertheless, Moriwaki revealed that his team will still almost certainly be seen in MotoGP next year, albeit as a wild card rather than full time entry. The Japanese rounds at Suzuka and Motegi would be clear favourites for the team, providing they can tune the machine to race pace in time.

"From today's results, I'm confident about participating in MotoGP as a wild-card entry during 2003," stated Moriwaki. "That is our first goal at this moment, and we'll keep on working hard for that."