Following the Honda Corporation’s announcement last week that it is ceasing its involvement in F1 effective immediately, questions were asked as to whether the belt-tightening would extend right across Honda’s motorsport efforts or be restricted only to the main money pit, F1.
Well, it seems that there is cause for concern. When questioned about Honda’s MotoGp effort, a top official in HRC said, “We are under consideration, and cannot answer. More than we imagined, the economic crisis has had an influence on what we do. Therefore, there is an implication for MotoGP as well. The situation is serious.” As Honda presently supplies nearly one third of the whole MotoGp grid, any decision to cut back on their involvement in this area would have far-reaching implications for the future of the sport. Given that Honda spends more money than all the rest of the factories combined, the possiblity of other players also scaling back their involvement is also there.
Worrying times, indeed.
On a brighter note, Jean-Michel Thiers, the designer of the Yamaha GTS1000 of the early 1990’s..
has announced that his design company is working on a new centre-hub steering concept that can be applied to any motorcycle. Key to the design is an arrangement within the hub itself that eliminates the main drawback of the CHS design, the uncomfortable kick-back from potholes and road irregularities. Thies, whose company is dedicated to the CHS concept, has even shown a design study based on a Yamaha R1 fitted with his new suspension. Here’s the link to it in this week’s MCN.
Weird, but interesting.