Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has revealed that its factory team Team HRC will compete in the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, an international electric all-terrain motorcycle racing series, riding the CR Electric Proto electric motocrosser.
The team will comprise Tosha Schareina from Spain, aged 28, a 2024 Dakar Rally participant, and Francesca Nocera from Italy, aged 30, an Italian WMX champion.
Last year, Honda entered the All Japan Motocross Championship (JMX) with the CR Electric Proto, marking its debut in electric motorcycle racing, and plans to further develop its technology through participation in further electric motorcycle races.
The FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, initiated in 2023, features electric off-road motorcycles with mixed-gender teams. This season will include a preliminary round for men and women, followed by three-heat races to determine the top three teams.
Races will be held on special courses of both dirt and asphalt. In the inaugural year, Team MIE’s Sandra Gomez and Jorge Zaragoza of Team MIE won the championship.
The upcoming season will mark the series’s first time in Asia, with the opening round scheduled at the Expo’70 Commemorative Park’s Festival Square in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, on February 16 and 17. Subsequent rounds will take place in Norway, France, Switzerland and India.
Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, said, “As Honda’s commitment to carbon neutrality grows in importance, HRC has decided to enter the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, a new category of electric off-road motorcycle racing in motorcycle motorsports.
“By taking on the challenge of a new electric motorcycle racing series, HRC will hone its technology in a real-world setting, accumulate know-how and knowledge, and further accelerate development of human resources.”
