Honda Brazil returns to MotoGP with Diogo Moreira

As a MotoGP rookie, Diogo Moreira with the RC213V entered under the Pro Honda LCR banner is regularly taking part in the Sepang Shakedown Test. From a technical standpoint, he is trying to get accustomed to the top class’s peculiarities with a standard RCV, while on the mainly aesthetic side, sponsors tied to the parent company have appeared and are expected to be unveiled during the LCR team’s official presentation.

As announced in recent weeks, the title sponsor on Diogo Moreira’s side of the LCR garage will be the Tokyo manufacturer itself with Pro Honda, the company’s oil and lubricants brand. Alongside Pro Honda will be Astemo, a company formed from the merger of Hitachi Automotive Systems and three Honda brands: Showa, Nissin, and Keihin. However, the news doesn’t end there.

Under the large Honda lettering on both sides of the fairing appears “Asas dá Liberdade!” (translated “wings of freedom”), which is the claim of Honda Motos Brasil. The company’s presence in Brazil is historic: in 1954, at the São Paulo IV Centenary Grand Prix, it made its debut in an international motorcycle competition for the first time, while in 1972, through Moto Importadora, it established its Brazilian subsidiary. The Manaus plant, in the heart of the Amazon, remains one of Honda’s most imposing facilities, where the legendary CG 125 is produced.

It is therefore not out of the question, at least for Diogo Moreira’s home Grand Prix in Goiânia, that his RC213V could feature a fully Brazilian livery. Much like Alex Barros in 500cc during his time with the Gresini team and, later, in the 2006 Superbike season with the Klaffi team. Furthermore, the title sponsor of the Brazilian Grand Prix will be Estrella Galicia, a long-standing personal sponsor of the reigning Moto2 World Champion.