From a press release issued by Pramac:

PRAMAC HONDA TEAM



The Tuscany-based Pramac Industrial Group has long been interested in and committed to sport, and its racing department, Pramac Racing, will be working at the forefront of the forthcoming MotoGP championship. Today sees the official launch of the ‘Pramac Honda Team’ which will be participating in the world championship with the five-cylinder Honda RC 211V, ridden by Japanese ace Makoto Tamada, and with the colossal Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone as a technical partner.

For the Tuscan industrial group, this involvement in the MotoGP will be a new and significant step in its commitment to sport, and it provides clear demonstration of Pramac’s great interest in and passion for motorcycle racing. It is an important project and is one that flanks the prestigious challenge for the 2003 world title.

The ‘Pramac Honda Team’ is the outcome of the programme made possible thanks to the acquisition only for 2003, of one of the Spanish D’Antin team’s MotoGP World Championship entry seats.

The ‘Pramac Honda’ project has come into being thanks to the close ties between the Pramac Industrial Group and the Honda Racing Corporation, and in addition there is the considerable interest of Bridgestone in continuing its research and development in first-class motorcycle racing. The Japanese tyre manufacturer’s undisputed dominance of Formula 1 has paved the way for this decisive operation in the world of motorcycling, and the results acquired in recent years suggest there are excellent reasons for continuing along this track.

Pramac Group also makes official the top-level appointment of Mr Tetsuo Iida. Mr Iida is the new President of Pramac Racing. His international career with the Japanese giant Honda has taken him all the way up to become President of Honda Europe, a post he has held for nine years. Mr Iida today picks up the gauntlet thrown down by the Campinoti family and the Pramac Industrial Group, and he will be taking part in this new world-championship adventure as a head of the Racing Division.

General management of the ‘Pramac Honda Team’ has been entrusted to Gianluca Montiron, who successfully managed the Pramac Group MotoGP project last year. Twenty-six year old Makoto Tamada from Ehime, runner-up in the Japanese Superbike and winner of three SBK world championship races, is facing a challenge of immense importance. His task will be to combine the phenomenal competitiveness of the Honda RC 211V with the Bridgestone’s tire development work.

The Pramac Honda Team is set to make its first sortie on the track in the winter tests slated for 20/21/22 January at Sepang (Malaysia).