REPSOL – MONTESA HRC

(What published in the following lines does not reflect the opinion of the magazine: it is strictly what has been received by REPSOL TRIAL TEAM)

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Honda to Enter RTL250F Trials Competition Racing Machine-Equipped with Newly Developed 250cc 4-stroke Engine- for Spot Appearance in WTC Weider Japanese Grand Prix

May 17, 2004.- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced today that it plans to enter its 4-stroke engine equipped RTL250F trials competition machine, currently under development for commercial release, in the Weider Japanese Grand Prix. The competition (the third in the 2004 FIM World Trials Championship series) will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 22-23, 2004 at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture.

Honda has independently developed the new bike, with the goal of combining solid competitiveness and outstanding environmental performance, in anticipation of the expected regulation changes that will require all competitors to run 4-stroke engines starting in 2006. The single-cylinder, 250cc water-cooled engine comes equipped with electronic fuel injection (Honda Programmed Fuel Injection System, or PGM-FI) -a first for a trials machine. The RTL250F will compete in the World Trial Championship's Weider Japanese Grand Prix on a spot basis, in order to gather data on its performance under actual race conditions. The organization for this test run is shown below.

Team name: Team HRC*1
Rider: Tomoyuki Ogawa, ranked second in the IAS*2 class of the All-Japan Trials Championship for 2003
Motorcycle: RTL250F

*1 HRC: Honda Racing Corporation
*2 IAS: International A-class Super (highest-ranked competitive license in Japan)

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