This start of the 2019 Grand Prix season could not have started better for the team manager of the Asia Honda team that is Hiroshi Aoyama. The former world champion in 2009 in the late 250 category won nine Grand Prix. He is also, at 36, retired from racing which ended with a broken chest in an accident at Silverstone during the 2010 season. He was then riding for the Interwetten Honda team. But thanks to his Moto3 rider, Tuff, he rediscovered his taste for victory through Moto3. He also gives a unique indication of the involvement of his troops in Moto2…
Aoyama is the representative on the track of a sector which begins with the Asian Talent Cup and extends into all Grand Prix categories, from Moto3 to the summit that is MotoGP, without forgetting the midpoint of Moto2. Nakagami is currently at the top of the pyramid. And the approach is very similar to that of KTM initiated with Red Bull. But the notable difference is that in Moto2, it is not a Honda chassis that is in charge.
Aoyama explain why : " I had the idea that HRC could build its own chassis for the Moto2 class, like KTM. I suggested it to HRC, and the arrival of the new Triumph engine in place of the 600 Honda was an opportunity. But they told me that they had to concentrate on the MotoGP World Championship, that they did not have enough staff for such a project at the moment. So for the moment, no project of this type is planned. But that may change one day ».
At HRC, the chassis of the Moto3 NSF 250RW machines exists, there is the know-how of the 250 cc World Championship and MotoGP. The development of a Moto2 should therefore not be insurmountable. And yet, the world's leading manufacturer is more cautious than the Austrians at KTM...
« There were rumors in the paddock that the Honda Asia team would pull out of Moto2 when the new engines arrived. But it was never relevant ", said Aoyama. " We need Moto2 for our structure, which leads from the Asian Talent Cup to the Moto3 team, then to Moto2 and eventually to MotoGP. These structures are important for Honda » he assures speedweek. But not to the point of launching into a Moto2 chassis…
