Honda Racing Corporation: From Motorcycle Race Shop to Formula One Power

Honda Racing Corporation, generally called HRC, runs motorsport for Honda. It was created in 1982 to look after motorcycle competition and was handed car racing in 2022. Today the company builds Formula One power units and runs programmes in Super Formula, Super GT and IndyCar.

Competition and development go hand in hand at HRC. Racing trains engineers and tests ideas that can later reach road cars, and this guide follows the company from its motorcycle beginnings to its present reach.

Where did HRC come from?

Honda's racing started inside the parent company, but in 1973 a separate firm called the Racing Service Center was set up to handle motorcycle competition. Honda's return to Grand Prix racing in 1979 came with the NR500, the work of a development group known as the NR block.

The NR block and the Racing Service Center were combined on 1 September 1982 to create the new company. Shoichiro Irimajiri, who had run the NR block, took the role of first president. Keeping racing in a specialist company meant its programme was less exposed to the fortunes of the head office.

The European base left the Isle of Man, where Honda had focused on the TT since 1959, and moved to Belgium, closer to the continental calendar. The merged firm covered every level of Honda's motorcycle competition, from the works effort down to privateers.

A motorcycle race shop from 1982 that became the company's engine and car racing voice, and now carries Honda's Formula One flag.

How did Honda's bikes win the Grands Prix?

HRC has raced in Grand Prix motorcycle sport since its formation, and its machines have collected more than 20 constructors' titles in the premier class. The works team now competes in MotoGP as Honda HRC Castrol. Until 2018 HRC also acted as a designated engine supplier to Moto2, and it still provides works-specification machines to Honda customer teams in Moto3.

Superbike racing has been less steady. HRC ran a works team in the World Superbike Championship under the Castrol Honda name until 2002, after which private teams carried Honda's colours. Factory backing came back in 2019 with support for the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team, and HRC entered its own works team in 2020.

Endurance racing has been another strength. HRC returned to the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2018 as a works team and won the race in 2022. Between 1997 and 2006, eight of Honda's ten consecutive Suzuka wins came from HRC.

What did HRC achieve in motocross and off-road racing?

Honda won its first 500cc motocross world title in 1979 and has since taken 39 riders' titles in that championship. In America the company won the 250cc AMA Motocross title in 1973 with its CR250M two-stroke. HRC ended its factory presence in the All Japan Motocross Championship in 2020, though it still supports privateers.

In rally raid the story begins in 1982, when Honda France asked for a modified XR500R at the Dakar Rally. Cyril Neveu won that year. The NXR750 followed in 1986 and won the event four straight times through 1989. HRC returned as a works team in 2013 with the CRF450 Rally, which won that year's cross-country rallies championship and was the first works return in 24 years.

In 2020, eight years into its comeback, the company won the Dakar overall, the first such win in 31 years. It matched that result in 2021. It then won the World Rally-Raid manufacturers' title in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The desert also produced the Baja 1000, where Honda won 17 consecutive events between 1997 and 2013.

Why did Honda return to Formula One through HRC?

HRC's Formula One story started in 2022, when its engines went to the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams via the Red Bull Powertrains company. Those engines had been built by Honda Motor Company itself, and the RBPT badge took over from the Honda name for 2022. In 2023 the Honda RBPT unit took 21 wins in 22 races.

Honda announced on 24 May 2023 that it would return as a full works supplier from 2026, providing power units to Aston Martin. HRC will develop those units and manage race entries and operations on Honda's side. The FIA confirmed Honda as a power unit maker for the new regulations, and HRC UK was set up in February 2024 as the European base for the comeback.

How did car racing join HRC in 2022?

On 1 April 2022 Honda's car racing operations were folded into HRC. Its four-wheel development base, HRD Sakura, was transferred to the company and became HRC Sakura. The motorcycle division remained in Asaka, Saitama, while HRC Sakura in Tochigi took over the car side.

In Super Formula, HRC took over the engine work from HRD Sakura in 2022, building 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engines to Nippon Race Engine rules. The HR-417E gave Tomoki Nojiri and Team Mugen the title in that first season. In Super GT the GT500 programme moved to HRC in the same year, and the NSX-GT ran in 2022 and 2023 with revised front bodywork.

The Civic Type R-GT appeared in 2024 as the first four-door GT500 car. It was also the first GT500 entry based on a front-wheel-drive road model, even though the class itself runs rear-wheel drive. The Prelude-GT will take over from it in 2026.

How does HRC support customer teams?

HRC took over the NSX GT3 project in 2022 and kept offering the car to customer teams. A 2022 Evo22 update followed, and the car had been racing in GT3 since 2017. Mugen handled customers in Japan, while HRC US covered North America and JAS Motorsport looked after Europe.

The Civic Type R TCR has been an even bigger commercial success. JAS Motorsport runs the customer programme, and the 2023 FL5 generation brought changes to its aero package, chassis set-up, cockpit layout and mass. Through August 2024 the range had passed 500 wins worldwide and more than 90 titles.

What is HRC doing in North America?

The former North American motorsport arm, Honda Performance Development, was renamed in December 2023, bringing the two subsidiaries together as a single global entity. HRC US builds a 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged V6 with hybrid units for several IndyCar teams. It also runs the Acura ARX-06, an LMDh prototype, in the top GTP class of the IMSA series.

HRC US competes off road as well, with the Baja Ridgeline trophy truck running in events such as the Baja 1000. The programme shows how one engineering group can work across very different disciplines.

How does HRC's research feed into its racing?

HRC acts as a testbed for Honda's carbon-neutral goals. Through its Civic Type R CNF-R project in the Super Taikyu Series in Japan, it tests carbon-neutral fuels. In 2024 the company's fuel cell research supported the start of series production in Ohio, through a General Motors partnership aimed at heavy trucks and stationary power.

The work also reaches into aviation and space. A HondaJet flew a test in 2025 on a 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel blend. HRC is also working with Astrobotic Technology on power systems for lunar surface missions, using technology derived from its fuel cell research.

What else has HRC made outside racing?

HRC developed the RN-01 G-cross, a mountain bike built for downhill racing. It raced on the UCI World Cup circuit during the mid-2000s and won the downhill title in 2005 with Greg Minnaar. The material processing methods learned there fed into the seamless transmission first used in the RC212V motorcycle.

Since 2023 HRC has also run the Honda Racing eMS esports competition, which is held in Gran Turismo 7. For customers, the company operates 23 HRC Service Shops in Japan and seven overseas.

Key milestones at a glance