The Japanese GP is already underway, and although the activity on the track has not started, it has already left us with an image to remember. This is the special decoration that Honda has prepared for the occasion, and it gives us one of the most spectacular retro decorations in recent times.
And Honda has traveled 60 years into the past to rescue the decoration of a motorcycle that made history, the RC181 ridden by Mike Hailwood and Jim Redman. Between Hailwood and Redman they won a total of five of the nine races that were contested at that time. Of course, Redman, after winning in Germany and the Netherlands, would be injured in Belgium and would no longer compete and would end up retiring.
Hailwood continued competing in 1966, winning in the Czech Republic, Ulster and the Isle of Man, with a second place in Finland. The rest were abandonments and that cost him the title, which went to Agostini. Even so, the bike won the Constructors’ World Championship.
In 1967, the last time the bike competed, Hailwood took another five wins and two second places, although it was not enough to take the title. In any case, this four-stroke, 499.6 cubic centimeter beast was a true gem that, in addition to being Honda’s first 500, managed to win 10 of the 19 races in which it participated.
Without the RC181 that Hailwood and Redman piloted, Honda’s story would surely be different
It is, therefore, a special piece in the history of Honda and, therefore, it makes perfect sense that now that 60 years have passed since the debut of the Japanese firm in a premier category in which it has been the protagonist on so many occasions, it celebrates it in this way.
This weekend it will be Luca Marini and Somkiat Chantra, who replaces Joan Mir while the Spaniard continues to be out due to his ailments, who will have the privilege of riding the motorcycles with the most special decoration on the entire grid. Such is the importance of this celebration for Honda that at the Motegi starting line they have presented the new decoration flanked by the most representative models of the brand in all these years.
The original Honda RC181 could not be missing, of course, but there was also the complicated NR500, which opted for four strokes in the two-stroke era, its replacement and more efficient NS500, the practically unbeatable NSR500 and the more modern MotoGP RC211V, RC212V and the RC213V, with which Marc Márquez was champion.
A review of the history of a championship that would not be the same without the signature of the golden wing.
