Hiroshi Aoyama has been confirmed as the second rider in the Aspar MotoGP team for 2014, as had long been anticipated. Aoyama will line up alongside Nicky Hayden, riding Honda RCV1000R production Hondas.
The job of monitoring and managing all four of the production Hondas will be undertaken by Cristian Gabarrini, former crew chief to Casey Stoner. The Aspar press release is after the jump.
HIROSHI AOYAMA COMPLETES POWER ELECTRONICS ASPAR TEAM 2014 LINE-UP
Japanese rider makes it two World Champions on track with the Spanish team in MotoGP next season
On the Thursday before the recent Australian Grand Prix the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team announced that it will be switching to Honda machinery for next season’s MotoGP World Championship. One of the riders that will be riding the RC213V-based ‘Production Racer’ has already been announced as 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden and the team can now confirm that he will be joined by another World Champion in the shape of Hiroshi Aoyama.
The Japanese rider went down in history as the last ever 250cc World Champion, a title he won with Honda, and now he is returning ‘home’ to the factory with whom he enjoyed the greatest successes of his career. Together with Honda and two World Champions in the shape of Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama, the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team has put together another winning package as they aim to continue their quest for success in the future.
Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’: “It is a great moment for the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team to be signing a World Champion like Hiroshi Aoyama. Next year we kick off a new project in MotoGP alongside Honda and I am sure that we can generate a great synergy between the three parties. The combination of factory, rider and team is very positive and I hope that 2014 can be an even more productive season for us than the last two. The last month has seen a revolution within the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team, in terms of the machinery and the riders, and I am very satisfied. The switch to Honda provides guarantees, as do World Champions like Hiroshi Aoyama and Nicky Hayden, who both won their titles with Honda. I am sure that all this will translate into great results on track next season.”
Source: Team Aspar; Photo: Jensen Beeler / Asphalt & Rubber – Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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