Castrol Honda to debut ride-by-wire system
Added on Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Castrol Honda to debut ride-by-wire system
Castrol Honda riders Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus will ride at Imola this weekend, following a positive test last week.
The Castrol Honda team has been developing the system for several weeks in preparation for the 2012 season, testing it last week at Misano, and the system will be used for the first time this weekend after the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motorcyclisme) sanctioned the use of electronically controlled throttle valves last Friday.
The new technology has excited Northern Irish rider Ruben Xaus, who goes to Imola looking for his first ever podium at the circuit.
“Imola has so much history and I remember the great battle between Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss there back in 2002,” he said.
“It’s a circuit I really enjoy riding but I didn’t have so much luck last year, crashing out of a really wet Superpole and breaking my wrist, which ended my season a little prematurely. Since then, I’ve had a similar injury on my other wrist, but it was good to come back at Nurburgring in the last round.
“The Misano test last week was pretty good and allowed us to see the potential of the new ride-by-wire system. There’s more work to do though, and we’ll continue development of the package at Imola this weekend with one eye on the 2012 season, although of course I’ll be aiming for two good results for myself and the team.”
