The latest incarnation of an iconic team has returned to the World Superbike
championship following yesterday's launch of the new Castrol Honda team, with
the global lubricants brand announcing title sponsorship of Honda's superbike
effort for the upcoming 2011 title race.
The new team will feature riders
Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus campaigning Honda's CBR1000RR Fireblade, with the
squad being run by the Netherlands-based Ten Kate Racing outfit, who have led
Honda's World Superbike effort since 2004.
Castrol's association with
Honda's motorcycle racing activities goes all the way back to the Japanese
manufacturer's first foray into the sport at the Isle of Man TT in 1959 and the
two companies celebrated 50 years of racing together in 2009.
While
Castrol has maintained support of Honda's annual World Superbike championship
effort in recent years, its previous title sponsorship of the Castrol Honda team
generated no fewer than three world titles, with John Kocinski in 1997 and then
twice with fellow American rider Colin Edwards in 2000 and 2002.
For
Jonathan Rea, 23, the new season, which opens on 27 February at Phillip Island
in Australia, will be his third in the World Superbike championship. The
Northern Irishman finished in fifth place in 2009, taking two wins, a tally
which he doubled last season on his way to fourth place in the championship.
Ruben Xaus, meanwhile, first competed in the World Superbike championship in
1998 and finished as runner-up in 2003 before a two-year spell in MotoGP. The
32-year-old Catalan rider has 11 career wins to his name and a total of 35
podium finishes to date.
Donald Smith, sponsorship manager, Global
Marketing Unit, Castrol: "Castrol are delighted to join Honda once again to see
the return of the famous Castrol Honda World Superbike team to racetracks around
the world. Motorcycle racing provides Castrol with the ultimate environment to
test and develop our advanced Castrol Power One technology and the Castrol Honda
World Superbike team provides a powerful and exciting platform to demonstrate
the performance of our Castrol Power One products."