HARADA RETURNS TO ACTION ABOARD THE EGO CORSA AT MOTEGI
The Land of the Rising Sun is more than ready to welcome back the FIM MotoGP World Championship as the fourth-from-last event of the 2018 season takes place this weekend at Twin Ring Motegi – a circuit located in the north-eastern part of Japan’s largest island Honshu. For the Energica Ego Corsa it will be a first around the twisty 4.8km (2.98mile) Japanese track, but the all-electric superbike machine designed and produced by the Italian manufacturer is in very good hands this time out.
Motorcycle racing legend Tetsuya Harada will be the rider taking on the sixteenth demo lap of the season aboard the Ego Corsa. The 48-year-old from Chiba, a city 40km southeast of Japan’s capital of Tokyo, is one of the most well known and recognisable figures in Japan’s motorcycle racing history. He won the 1993 250cc World Championship but he also raced at the sharp end of the field on many occasions throughout his ten-year racing career at international level.
“First of all, I would very much like to thank Energica and Dorna for giving me this wonderful opportunity, and I am really excited to be riding this exciting race bike”, says Harada. “In 2002, the last year I competed, this kind of machine didn’t exist but I’m now very curious to see how it will respond on the circuit and what type of performance it provides. Moreover, in these times when pollution and global warming are becoming bigger and more prominent issues, I think that it is very important that in motor racing there is awareness on the part that everyone can play in running with clean energy. In fact, I am planning to give sports-riding courses on this type of bike to encourage people to ride them and help reduce air pollution. Finally, and above all, I am really looking forward to riding in front of the wonderful Japanese racing fans after such a long time!”
The demo lap of the Japanese Grand Prix will get underway on Sunday 21 October at 13:20 local time (GMT+9). Meanwhile, the countdown to the unveiling of the final livery for the Ego Corsa continues, as new graphics will be presented to the world at Milan’s annual motorcycle exhibition EICMA (8-11 November).