ADAC MX Masters·29.7.2021
Making dreams come true. It is with this attitude that Honda develops and builds so industriously to ensure that it offers its customers the best possible products, from motorcycles and cars to power equipment and much more.
The history of Honda dates back to the end of the Second World War, when Japan needed to get mobile again, quickly and economically. In 1946, Soichiro Honda came up with the idea of equipping bicycles with overpowerful generator engines. In doing so, he created the first “Honda”. His challenge was now primarily to meet demand. With the Type A bicycle motor, Honda had already launched the first product before Honda Motor Co., Ltd. was founded by Soichiro Honda and his business partner Takeo Fujisawa in 1948. Soichiro’s role in this partnership was development. As such, he was responsible for the spirit, for which the brand is renowned to this day. Soichiro was a visionary, a dreamer. However, instead of just dreaming, he tried to find ways to make his dreams reality.
The first motorcycle developed solely by Honda, the D-Type, followed in 1949. After that, the company developed rapidly. By 1955, it was already the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan. Nowadays, it is the biggest in the world. In 1958, a global star was born, in the form of the Honda Super Cup, the direct successors of which are still being produced today. In 1960, a specific test and development company was founded as a subsidiary. This gave Soichiro Honda his dream factory, so to speak, in which he was given free rein to bring his dreams to life. And he was relentless in his quest. “Our customers are happy with our products, because we never are,” he said. This approach goes hand in hand with the brand’s motor racing success. But it was a tough beginning.
On Honda’s first appearance at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy in 1959, the manufacturer failed miserably. However, two years later, Honda completed a top-four shut-out. That ambition lives on to this day, and Soichiro once said: “Without racing, there is no Honda.” Motorsport pushes cars and technology to their limits, and products are put to the test under the toughest conditions imaginable. As a rule, many developments subsequently find their way into the large-scale production of cars and motorcycles.
“At Honda, we live motorsport. Racing is very important, no matter what the discipline,” says Christopher Schmidt, Manager Marketing and Product Management at Honda Deutschland. The factory race outings are managed by the HRC Team, and it is the dream of many young stars to ride for a Honda factory team at some point in their lives. Ken Roczen is currently living that dream in the American Honda factory team. A few years ago, Max Nagl was racing for the HRC Team in the Motocross World Championship.
In Germany, Honda works closely with teams as a sales company on the motorsport scene. When it comes to Motocross, the KMP Honda Racing Team has been the official Honda team since 2016. Team principal Alex Karg has been passionately living his own dream for many years. Belgian’s Jeremy Délincé has been riding for the reds since 2014. In Petar Petrov and Paul Haberland, the team is also represented in the World Championship this season.
In the ADAC MX Masters, Honda Deutschland not only features prominently on the racetrack, but also in the paddock. The latest models, such as the Africa Twin, sporting a special anniversary look to mark 60 years of Honda Deutschland, are exhibited here. “Our Adventure Bike range is expanding all the time and goes hand in hand with the Motocross models,” explains Evelin Reinhardt, who coordinates events, trade fairs and racing at Honda Deutschland. “However, as well as Adventure Bikes like the Africa Twin, we also bring more models, like the Fireblade, which will be 30 years old next year, with us. Our staff are on hand to answer questions and we would also like to offer test rides at one or two ADAC MX Masters events.”
Soichiro Honda, who passed away in 1991, can be very happy with the way his company continues to embody a pioneering spirit. The power of his dreams is perhaps best shown by the fact that Honda now also builds small business jets, as well as cars, motorcycles, power equipment like lawn mowers and generators, and batteries, boat and industrial motors. After all, Soichiro always dreamed of being able to fly …
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