Team HRC’s Trey Canard got the Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO off to a flying start at the opening day of Round 8 of the All Japan Motocross Championship 2023 at Off-Road Village, Saitama. This is Honda’s first participation in an official race with an electric motorcycle.

Making a wildcard appearance in the premier IA1 category of the series, performing in the heat of competition for the first time, Honda’s electric prototype off-road machine proved fast in both of today’s sessions.

In the opening official practice, Canard, who currently serves as team advisor for American Honda Motor Co. Inc., set the second fastest time of the session aboard the number 41 machine and finished second overall just behind multiple champion Jay Wilson.

In the afternoon’s qualifying race, Canard crossed the line in fifth, wrapping up a successful debut day for the CR ELECTRIC PROTO and giving him a good gate pick to carry that momentum into tomorrow’s three race heats.

Trey Canard, no.41 CR ELECTRIC PROTO

“It was a good day overall. I didn’t really know where I or the bike stacked up. I was happy to have a good lap time in practice one and a good start in the qualifying race from pick 24 which has given us a better pick for tomorrow’s races.

“There are some areas I can improve with my riding for tomorrow and we will adjust the bike to fit the track better as well. It’s exciting to race the CR ELECTRIC PROTO, and I believe it will really help the development of the machine. It’s also fun for me to be back racing after a long time away from the starting gate.

“The development team has done a great job adapting the bike in the last month and it’s been a very fun process.”

Taichi Honda, Team HRC Team Manager

“I am very happy that we were able to complete today’s competitive debut of the CR ELECTRIC PROTO without any problems, and that we could see that the bike’s performance is strong. It’s Honda’s first major competitive outing for an electric machine so we are very pleased for this milestone in bringing another new Honda initiative to the world stage.

“Today’s running revealed some small issues, which is normal for such a prototype machine, and we will adopt countermeasures for tomorrow’s races. It’s a valuable part of testing and learning in such a competitive environment, which is our main objective from this weekend.

“I would like to thank all the people involved in this project for their cooperation and hard work. The opportunity to learn and develop with the CR ELECTRIC PROTO is more important than outright results this weekend, but today the performance was strong, the results were good and we are looking forward to more track time in the heats tomorrow.”

Sunday, October 29th 2023

Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO shows leading pace in valuable debut weekend in Saitama

After a successful qualifying run on Saturday, Sunday’s race day brought mixed fortunes for Team HRC but a race-leading demonstration of pace of the new CR ELECTRIC PROTO. This was Honda’s first participation in an official race with an electric motorcycle.

In the morning’s practice, Trey Canard followed on seamlessly from his Saturday pace to go second fastest on the all-electric #41, making its global competitive debut this weekend.

Then came the first ever race for Honda’s new prototype machine, in the form of JMX Rd.8 Heat 1. The opening race was smooth, with Canard starting strongly, settling into a rhythm and crossing the line second aboard the CR ELECTRIC PROTO. As learning, development and ultimately the pace continued to improve throughout the weekend, Canard closed to just 0.7s off the fastest lap and was looking fast.

In the second heat, Canard again started well and looked to be set to keep building on the weekend’s momentum, but an early crash with heat 1 rival Jay Wilson unfortunately ruled him out of the race.

Returning for the third heat, Canard made best use of the Honda’s instant electric torque and again started strongly, taking the lead exiting the first corner. In fact, Canard took two of the three holeshots on CR ELECTRIC PROTO.

Starting to stretch that lead from his weekend-long rival, the #27 of Wilson, it would have been the perfect culmination of the weekend’s learning and work on the CR ELECTRIC PROTO to take the machine’s first win in its first ever competitive weekend – but unfortunately, as the track continued to get ever more rutted, Canard crashed with 12 and a half minutes remaining of the 15-minute race.

Nonetheless, with the opportunity provided by racing to learn, develop and prove the prototype machine in the heat of battle for the first time, it has been a successful and encouraging debut for the CR ELECTRIC PROTO – a weekend which has provided valuable data for ongoing development of Honda’s all-electric motocross initiative.

Trey Canard, no.41 CR ELECTRIC PROTO

“This weekend was definitely a big challenge for me but it was a great race for our development. Each time I was on the track we improved the motorcycle and the CR ELECTRIC PROTO team adapted to the challenge.

“We had some shines of brilliance as a team, the starts being one of them with two of the three holeshots. There were also some sections on the track that were very impressive and that makes me excited for the future of this motorcycle.

“I’m disappointed to not finish all of the motos after all of the hard work the team has put in but I think we showed that the potential of the bike is quite high especially for our very first attempt at racing. I’m grateful to be a part of this effort and I’m very proud of each and every person who has worked so hard.”

Taichi Honda, Team HRC Team Manager

“First of all, I would like to thank the development team and everyone involved for preparing the CR ELECTRIC PROTO to be ready for competition in such a short time.

“I would also like to thank Trey Canard for showing his potential even though he has only had a few tests.

“We had three heats today for the first time and we will take what we learnt from each race and feed it back to the ongoing development of the CR ELECTRIC project.”