Castrol Back To Honda World Superbike Team
Cycle News Staff | January 18, 2011
Almost 10 years after Colin Edwards rode the then familiar green, red and white Castrol Honda to the World Superbike Championship, the team returns to the Castrol fold with Jonathan Rea set to ride a Castrol-backed Ten Kate Honda in the 2011 World Superbike Championship.Castrol returns to World Superbike team sponsorship after being out of the series since 2002 when Edwards beat Ducati’s Troy Bayliss to the title in one of the most exciting battles that series has seen. John Kocinski also won the World Superbike Championship on a Castrol Honda, the Little Rock, Arkansas native taking the title in 1997.Rea, who finished fourth in the 2010 World Superbike Championship, will team with Spaniard Ruben Xaus on the team, which was introduced today in England.
“One of my main inspirations for racing was watching Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards battle Troy Bayliss for the World Superbike championship in that epic season in 2002,” Rea said in a team release. “It’s a real honor for me to be racing under those same famous colors for the 2011 season and I’ll be trying my hardest to recreate what Colin did for the Castrol Honda team. I think the bike looks fantastic and I know the Ten Kate guys back at the workshop have been working really hard on its technical development since last season finished so now I just can’t wait to get started.”
