Five-time world champion Gajser needs no introduction, as the Slovenian looks to add to his trophy-haul after an injury-hit 2023 campaign. The #243 did return later in the year and ended up winning two of the final three rounds, but his eyes have been firmly set on this year for some time and he will be looking to continue his winning ways, on what is a brand-new Honda CRF450R.

Both him, and teammate Fernandez have been strenuously testing the new machine over this winter period, making sure it is ready for all the challenges that a 20-round MXGP season can throw at it, and after considerable riding time, both are extremely happy with the results and are excited for the first gate-drop on March 9-10.

Fernandez is especially looking forward to heading down to Argentina again, and the fabulous facility in Villa La Angostura, as the #70 was victorious there last year, in what was his first-ever MXGP win. It was an important moment and one that really boosted the Spaniard’s confidence for the rest of the season, and now he’s once again feeling good as this season looks to get underway in the South American country.

It was a big step for Team HRC to be re-joining the MX2 class, but also a crucial one for the brand to be racing competitively on the smaller 250cc machines, and Zanchi was seen as the perfect prospect to lead this new venture for 2024. The Italian already has a couple of wildcard MX2 rounds under his belt, and was successful in the EMX250 class last year, and will now step-up full time in what is a completely blank slate for him and the bike. Both parties know that it won’t be easy to come in and challenge straight away, but both have put in a lot of work over this off-season to be ready for what awaits. This is seen as a long-term project to try and get back to the level that saw Gajser win the MX2 title in 2015, but everyone involved knows there is a lot of potential, and with the expertise and winning-mentality that Team HRC possesses, it will only be a matter of time before they are back where they belong.

So with two new bikes and one new rider, 2024 is shaping-up to be a very exciting season for everyone involved, but before the world championships get underway, there are two warm-up races in Riola Sardo and Mantova for trio to put their respective machines through their first competitive paces and make sure everything is ready for Argentina in just over one month’s time.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

I can’t wait for this season to get underway. I found my form at the end of last year and since then we’ve had a new bike which is great to ride and I’m looking forward to going out there and showing it. The off-season has been good, with a lot of extra stuff but I’ve been able to get in the riding I’ve needed to do and basing myself in Sardinia for a month or so has worked out well so that I can really train how I need to. The team have been working hard alongside me to help get everything to where it needs to be, and now we are just looking to get to that first gate drop and getting this 2024 season started.

Ruben Fernandez ⁷⁰

I’ve been really impressed with this new bike and it’s been fun getting it setup how I want it and working how I want it for the season ahead. Obviously, I started off 2023 by winning in Argentina and it would be great to start 2024 off with a bang as well, but the goal is to have more strong moments, and be consistently challenging up the front. The fact we have two Spanish GPs now, with one close to my home is great for me and I’m really looking forward to the new round in Galicia, and there are actually a lot of races I believe I can do well at.

Ferruccio Zanchi ⁷³

This is such a great moment for me. It is what every young rider wants to achieve when they first get on a motocross bike – to ride for Team HRC. However, this moment is just the start, and I know that the real work starts now. It is a great honour to be the person they chose to lead the renewal of this CRF250R programme, but I know that I need to give it 100% effort to make sure that this year, and the coming years will be successful for both myself and the machine. I want to thank all the people close to me who helped make this possible and I’d also like to say hello to all the Honda fans around the world who I’ll now be representing on the track. I look forward to meeting you and hopefully I can do you proud in the races.

Tetsuhiro Kuwata

HRC Director – General Manager Race Operations Management Division

We are very excited to have signed Ferruccio for this upcoming season in the MX2 class. It was a decision we thought a lot about because it is an important one for Honda and HRC, to come back to racing our CRF250R and we knew that we had to do it the right way. We believe that Ferruccio is the right rider for this project, and that he can grow with the bike and develop it so that we can get back to winning races and being successful in the MX2 class, like we have done in the MXGP class.
Of course, with Tim and Ruben, we know we have two world class riders who are both hungry for success this year and with this all-new Honda CRF450R, we are confident that they will be right up there challenging for wins in the world motocross championship.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

It has been a lot of work this off season, getting everything ready as we have a new CRF450R, and we are back working with the CRF250R again, plus we have a new rider with Ferruccio, so everyone has been very busy making sure we are as prepared as possible for this upcoming campaign. A big thanks to the team in Japan and everyone here who has been making it all happen and a big thanks to all our sponsors for working alongside us to help us with this project. I really can’t wait to see all three riders on the track, because they are all at different, but exciting points in their careers and it has the potential to be a great year for Team HRC.

This will be Honda’s first attempt to enter a Honda-developed electric motorcycle in the All Japan Championship, and will make a wildcard appearance as Team HRC.

Gajser’s fourth MXGP title (in addition to his one MX2 crown) came in another record-breaking year as he topped the charts in all the important statistics, including the most crucial – championship points. Wrapping up the title a couple of rounds early, the #243 had more than three times as many GP wins as his nearest rival, over double the number of race wins, and had more pole positions, led more laps and was on the podium more than anyone else. He was also the only rider to touch the red plate, leading the championship from the first round right the way through the season.

And he’ll be hoping to repeat all those feats in 2023 when he aims to make it six titles in nine years, and move him even higher up the list of all-time greats. Of course it won’t be easy, which is why Gajser continues to make small adjustments to his training, so that he is even better prepared than year’s previously and ready to take on all-comers when the gate drops for the first time in Argentina on March 12th.

Joining him on the line will be Spanish rider Fernandez, who’s rise up the ranks should be an inspiration to motocross riders everywhere. The #70 has had to fight throughout his career, overcoming setbacks early-on to finally reach the pinnacle of motocross status – riding a Team HRC CRF450R.

A previous MX2 red-plate holder, Fernandez moved full-time into the MXGP class in 2022 where he immediately made an impact. He had a third-place finish in a moto in Argentina, before standing on the podium in Latvia in just the sixth round. He then had another podium in Indonesia, and was really starting to find his momentum before a crash in Loket whilst running quickest in practice, forced him to miss a few rounds. Still, he had shown enough for Team HRC to sign him up at the end of last year, giving him plenty of time to prepare for this upcoming season.

First up for both riders are the two preseason Italian races in Ponte a Egola and Trentino, before they head to Patagonia-Argentina and the amazing track near Villa La Angostura on the weekend of March 12th. From then on, it’s a steady stream of racing, on some of the best tracks around the world, with some new additions to calendar freshening it up, before the season finale at Matterley Basin in Great Britain, where hopefully Team HRC duo will be celebrating a successful season onboard their Honda CRF450Rs.

Tim Gajser: Obviously last year I was champion, and that will be my goal again this year. I always say that nothing is so good, that can’t be better, so I’m trying to improve and work on the small details to give me that little edge. We’ve made a number of changes with the Honda CRF450R in the off-season and they’ve all worked out really well so I’m happy with my machine, and how my training has gone and now it’s just building towards the first gate drop. The calendar looks to be a good one, with some nice rounds and I hope to see a lot of fans throughout the year.

Ruben Fernandez: It’s a new team for me, but it feels familiar and that has made things a lot easier. This winter has been really good and I’m in a solid place, and I feel like I can show everyone what I can do, right at the very first round. I learnt a lot from last year and I’m always trying to improve, so I know that consistency is just as important as speed and that’s what I’ll be aiming to achieve. The Honda CRF450R is a great machine and I’m comfortable on it, having rode it last year as well and I know I couldn’t have a better team behind me, to help improve the bike and make my performances better. I really can’t wait until the season begins!

Marcus Pereira de Freitas, HRC General Manager – MXGP:It’s always exciting at the beginning of a new season, seeing how the guys over the winter and where they are, compared with where they need to be. Both Tim and Ruben, had good training during the off-season and now will have a couple of warm-up races just to get some competitive gate-drops under their belts before we all head down to Argentina for round one of the 2023 MXGP World Championship.

The squad’s 450 effort will be led by Chase Sexton, who embarks on his third AMA Supercross season aboard the factory CRF450RWE. A two-time AMA Supercross 250SX East Region Champion, the Illinois native took a big step forward this past season, regularly posting podium results indoors, finishing a close second in the AMA Pro Motocross final standings, and riding for the winning Team USA effort in his Motocross of Nations debut. As previously announced, Sexton is joined for the 2023 indoor series by 2021 AMA Supercross 250SX East Region Champion Colt Nichols, who moves to Honda and the premier class after a successful career aboard quarter-litre machinery.

For the third year in a row, Team Honda HRC’s 250 effort is headed up by Australian brothers Hunter and Jett Lawrence, both campaigning the CRF250R. This past season saw Jett not only successfully defend his AMA Pro Motocross 250 title, but also earn the AMA Supercross 250SX East Region crown, while Hunter was second in the West Region and third outdoors. For 2023, the brothers are swapping supercross regions, with Jett riding West and Hunter racing East. Meanwhile, Chance Hymas advances from the amateur ranks to join Hunter in selected East Region appearances.

In addition to his 250 efforts, Jett intends to switch to the CRF450RWE fulltime for AMA Pro Motocross. At that point, Hymas will fill his 250 spot fulltime alongside Hunter Lawrence.

Following a successful debut year as Team Manager, Lars Lindstrom continues at the helm for 2023, once again joined by 450 and 250 Crew Chiefs Shane Drew and Grant Hutcheson, respectively. Brandon Zimmerman is Sexton’s mechanic, while Nichols’ technician is Jordan Troxell. Christien Ducharme and Cameron Camera continue as mechanics for Jett and Hunter Lawrence, and Thomas Harris is spinning wrenches for Hymas.

“The 2023 season will mark 50 years of motocross for American Honda, and we’re excited to get started,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Sports & Experiential at American Honda. “We experienced some good success in 2022, including indoor and outdoor championships in the 250 class, but we’re hungry for more. We’ve got a great line-up of riders aboard competitive machinery, and talented crew and management behind them. Honda has compiled an impressive motocross and supercross heritage over the past half-century, but we’re focused on adding to it as we head into the next 50 years.”

The 2023 season features a new format, with the 17-round AMA Supercross series commencing January 7 in Anaheim, California; the 11-round AMA Pro Motocross series kicking off May 27 in Pala, California; and the new three-round SuperMotocross World Championship starting September 9 in a yet-to-be-announced location.
 

Last year’s championship was filled with a lot of good moments for Team HRC, with four-time world-champion Gajser winning four rounds after some really impressive riding, including an incredible one-one performance at the opening round in Russia. However, ultimately, he came up just short in his quest to become a five-time champion, and it is that outcome that he is looking to set right when he lines up at Matterley Basin and beyond, for what should be another intense title-battle.

For teammate Evans, 2021 was the most difficult of his young career as he was forced to watch from the sidelines whilst recovering from the wrist injury he sustained at the MXGP of Spain in 2020. Missing an entire season is never positive, but the Australian has kept a strong focused mindset and is hoping to bounce-back this year and remind everyone of the rider who scored a third-place finish in his first ever MXGP moto. He knows it won’t be easy and isn’t putting pressure on himself to get those sorts of results straight-away but his belief in his ability has never wavered and it should only be a matter of time before the #43 is challenging at the very front of the field.

First up for both riders are the preseason Italian International races, before they head to Great Britain and the amazing Matterley Basin track on the weekend of February 20^th. From then on, it’s a steady stream of racing, on some of the best tracks around the world, with hopeful returns to some of the overseas destinations that have been unavailable these past two seasons. Whatever happens this year with the calendar, both Honda riders are ready to bounce back and give their best in the 2022 World Motocross Championship.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

I feel really good coming into this 2022 season. Obviously last year didn’t end the way I wanted, as I finished third in the championship, which is still good, but it isn’t what I aim for. I did have a lot of good moments and those are the things I am focusing on and building upon in this off-season. We haven’t had a lot of time to switch-off and relax so that has been difficult but I am feeling fit and healthy and ready to fight for the championship. I will race the Italian races to give me some warm-up gate drops but I know the real racing starts at Matterley Basin in under one month’s time. There are a lot of familiar tracks on the calendar and I am confident that I can maintain a high level of performance and put the Honda CRF450R on the podium throughout the season. Hopefully we can get into a regular routine and the schedule stays the same, and that the fans can come out and support us at all the rounds as that makes such a big difference.

Mitch Evans ⁴³

It’s been a really tough 15 months for me, not being able to race and not being able to ride for such a long time. It’s been hard, both physically and mentally to try and stay positive and to keep the motivation high to come back to what is an extremely high level of motocross in the MXGP class now. However, I am feeling better and better every day now and my fitness and strength is ahead of the schedule I’d set out for myself. I know that it won’t be easy to race these guys right away because they are going so fast, but I’m not putting pressure on myself and I truly believe I can get back to that level. You never lose your ability to ride, so it’s just a case of getting my left-side strong enough and that is happening day by day. I’m really thankful to have had the support of Team HRC throughout this period and I’m really looking forward to paying that back by putting in the results on the track.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

It is great to have both Tim and Mitch under the awning this year, and they are both working really hard to be ready again for the new season. The break was very short from the end of the 2021 campaign so it has been a very busy period and I must thank everyone in Team HRC for continuing to work hard to make sure we are all set for the first gate drop. Tim always does the work necessary, both with bike testing and his own physical training so I always trust him to do exactly what he needs to do. Mitch has been back in Europe for a little bit now and all the reports have been positive and now we get to test with him before the first MXGP and that will give us an idea of where he is. We know it won’t be easy as the level has risen since he last raced but he is very determined and we will make sure he has everything he needs to get back to top of the class. It sounds like we are going back to a two-day format, which I think is good for the sport so we need to be ready for that, but overall, I think Team HRC is in a strong position for 2022.

Honda has revealed a new-look CRF450RW which will be the bike campaigned by Tim Gajser and Mitch Evans in the 2020 MXGP series. It’s likely this will be the basis of the 2021 production bike, although the stocker will obviously not have the factory suspension and titanium parts. The bodywork is very different to the current bike but HRC is playing the rest of the details close to its chest. The official story says:

The Honda CRF450RW is the works machine developed by Team HRC’s engineers and the technical might of Honda Racing Corporation and Honda’s R&D department in Japan.

It’s a masterpiece of engineering efficiency and performance, and after winning the MXGP world championship on their 2019 bike, they have been hard at work to create this completely new and improved version for the 2020 season which reigning champion Tim Gajser and teammate Mitch Evans will be riding. It is the latest evolution in what is a successful lineage from the 2016 World Championship-winning machine, to last year’s 2019 bike, and now this newest version which has been created from the ground up to cope with the multitude of conditions that an MXGP rider has to negotiate.

Development moved as fast as the bike’s pace on track in 2014 when HRC returned to MXGP as a factory effort, and five race victories ensued, four of those coming as the season drew to its close. With an intensive programme of further development over the winter, the 2015 bike proved to be a winner again, and finished second and third in the world.

In 2016, HRC’s three-year plan was realised when Tim Gajser took his CRF450RW to the World Championship title – Honda’s first in 16 years. At the end of the 2016 season, the all-new 2017 CRF450RW was also debuted, first by Evgeny Bobryshev at the final two rounds of the season, and then also by Gajser at the SMX Riders’ Cup where he took the new bike’s first moto win.

In the 2017 MXGP season, Tim Gajser continued the new machine’s success with eight moto victories, including overall Grand Prix wins in Argentina, Mexico and Sweden, and he and teammate Evgeny Bobryshev scored nine podiums throughout the season.

Two years later, Gajser would rewrite the Honda record books again as he won seven MXGP overalls in a row, on his way to taking the 2019 title by a massive 202 points. It was a fantastic achievement and further proved the power and performance of the Honda CRF450RW.

Previously the lightest stock machine in its class, it carries these characteristics into motocross race trim following Honda’s ethos of mass centralisation, combining light weight and effortless manoeuvrability with useable power delivery. Its slim proportions feature finely tuned aerodynamics and a low centre of gravity for greater control in the air.

The factory versions of the machine are shod with Pirelli tyres and Showa suspension, and a number of custom performance parts such as billet titanium footpegs, titanium bolts to reduce weight, factory-spec cylinder head and camshaft, and custom US-Yoshimura exhausts.

The Honda CRF has remarkable motorsport lineage and is a force to be reckoned with across all off-road disciplines.

In the MX2 category of the FIM Motocross World Championship, Gajser took the first of his back-to-back titles in 2015 on his CRF250RW, followed by the MXGP title on the 2016 CRF450RW, marking a motocross milestone for Honda and HRC. Mathys Boisrame also rode his Honda CRF250RW to victory in the 2018 EMX250 championship, collecting numerous race wins, overalls and holeshots in what was a highly successful championship for the French rider who now steps up to the MX2 class for 2019.

In the Dakar rally, the new Honda CRF450 RALLY has been delivering remarkable performances since 2014, and has taken stage wins and led the infamous event in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 before finally succeeding in their mission when Ricky Brabec won the 2020 Dakar in the sands of Saudi Arabia. In the Enduro World Championship, Redmoto’s campaign is successfully building upon past successes such as Alex Salvini’s 2013 World Championship title aboard his CRF450R, Giacomo Redondi’s EJ World Championship crown in 2016 and Davide Soreca’s second place in the EJ World Championship in 2017.

Machine Specs

Headlining the group is Team Honda HRC, which will field Ken Roczen and Justin Brayton aboard the factory CRF450R in the 450SX division. Roczen, who is coming off a runner-up overall finish in the 2019 AMA Pro Motocross series, is preparing for his fourth year with the squad.

Brayton, who just sewed up his fourth Australian Supercross Championship, returns to the team he last rode for in 2012. Brayton continues his practice of focusing on stadium racing, and at the conclusion of the AMA Supercross series, his seat will be filled by 450 rookie Chase Sexton.

Sexton, the reigning AMA 250SX East Region Champion, currently rides for GEICO Honda, American Honda’s Corona, California-based 250 satellite effort. He and his fellow CRF250R-mounted teammates—Jeremy Martin, Christian Craig, Jo Shimoda and Hunter and Jett Lawrence—were also presented to media at the event. GEICO Honda announced yesterday that nine-time AMA Champion Ryan Dungey has joined the team as a co-owner.

Also on hand was the Smartop/MotoConcepts/Bullfrog Spas Honda team, which is based in Victorville, California, and will campaign the 450SX division on the CRF450R with Malcolm Stewart (recently third at the Monster Energy Cup and second at the Paris Supercross), Vince Friese (a veteran with the squad, known for his strong starts) and Justin Hill (new to the team for 2020).

In addition to its supercross efforts, Honda presented Phoenix Racing Honda’s AMA Arenacross team, for which defending champion Jace Owen will be joined by Kyle Peters, who begins his first arenacross season. Based in Salisbury, North Carolina, the team also plans to campaign the AMA Supercross 250SX East region rounds.

“This is always a busy, exciting time of the year with the supercross and arenacross openers around the corner, so it’s fun to take a short break and give our media friends the chance to hang our with our teams,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Advertising & Motorcycle Sports at American Honda. “We have four strong teams with solid lineups for 2020, and we take pride in those relationships. There’s every reason to be optimistic for a great year of stadium and arena racing for Red Riders.”

The AMA Supercross season kicks off in Anaheim, California, on January 4, one day after AMA Arenacross begins in Loveland, Colorado.

For Gajser, he’ll be hoping for more of the same after finishing a season that saw him take nine out of a possible 18 overall victories. This included a record-breaking seven in a row, which allowed him to win the title by a massive 202-point margin. He was victorious at the Belgian GP in the deep sands of Lommel, which showed just how much the Slovenian has improved in all aspects of his riding this year and he was also able to win his class at the Motocross of Nations and put in an extremely impressive fifth overall at the Monster Energy Cup against the best supercross riders in the world. However now, he knows the hard work must continue as he looks to defend his crown in what will be an extremely competitive MXGP class in 2020.

Amongst those lining up with him on the start gate will be Mitch Evans, who steps up onto the Honda CRF450RW as his whirlwind career path takes him onto Team HRC. Under the tutelage of Team Honda 114 Motorsports’ Livia Lancelot last year, Evans was able to get an MX2 podium on his very first outing at the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina which he then backed up with another podium at round six in Portugal, where he got first taste of leading the field. While injury meant he then missed almost a third of the season, he was still able to finish in 11^th place in the championship, with only five riders having more podium placings.

For 2020 though, Evans will swap his Honda CRF250R for the title winning CRF450RW as he steps up into the MXGP class, joining gold medallist Tim Gajser under the Team HRC awning. While Evans doesn’t turn 21 until the November 10^th, he is experienced on 450cc machines, having ridden them in Australia in 2018, where he finished runner-up in the MX1 class in what was his rookie campaign. It was this result, coupled with his excellent showing on a 450 at the 2018 Motocross of Nations in RedBud, USA that convinced Honda to sign him to the world championships last year.

After a year learning the ropes and seeing how the MXGP series operates, Evans will begin his preparation on a 450cc machine that many experts believe he is truly suited to. Once the EICMA show is completed, he will move full-time to Milan to work with the team over the winter to get him prepared for the season ahead, which begins with the MXGP of Great Britain on March 1^st 2020.

—–

Tim Gajser
“I am very much looking forward to this new season with Team HRC. Of course last season was great and I have a lot of good memories but now I must start concentrating on what is ahead and preparing myself to put in a lot of work for 2020. I know we have an excellent bike, with the CRF450RW so that allows me to really focus on myself because this year showed that I could win with that bike in any conditions. However next year will be even tougher and that’s what I need to prepare for, as defending the title isn’t going to be easy as there are a lot of fast guys in the class but I know what I have to do and I believe I am in the best team to do it.”

Mitch Evans
“It is just amazing to signing for Team HRC. The history that this brand has with all the great riders who have ridden Honda’s and to now be a part of that, it is unbelievable. This is something that you grow up dreaming about when you first swing your leg over a dirtbike, to be under the HRC awning riding a full-factory CRF450RW. I really can’t wait to get started and I am really looking forward to showing people what I can do in the MXGP class. I know it won’t be easy because there are a lot of talented people in the class but I’ve got the best possible teammate with Tim, because he’s the world champion and he knows exactly how to go about things. I hope to learn a lot from him and from the team and use all of that to put in my best performances when the season starts. Now though, it’s time to knuckle down and put in work so that I can come out swinging in round one.”

Marcus Pereira de Freitas
“Of course it is great news to have Tim with us again for next season. He is a pleasure to work alongside and this year was just great for everyone involved in the team. We know that trying to do the same again will be tough but everyone, including Tim, is prepared to do everything necessary to try and make it happen.

“We are also very excited to have Mitch join us for the 2020 season on the Honda CRF450RW. We know that he can ride a 450 well, after his showing at the Motocross of Nations in RedBud when he was just 19 years old, so it is great to have him under our awning for next year. However, while the world championships start in March, he knows he has to do a lot of training to do before that in order get ready for the 20 round series on this bigger machine. His rookie season last year had some positive results and he now knows a little of what to expect with the tracks and the conditions so that will help, but of course he will have a whole team around him, supporting him and making sure he is able to go out there and deliver some good results for Team HRC.”