The MIE Racing Honda Team today announced its new title sponsor, PETRONAS, ahead of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship, which is set to begin this coming weekend at the Australian circuit of Phillip Island.
The agreement with PETRONAS will enable Midori Moriwaki’s team to expand upon its projects and set itself some ambitious goals for 2023 and beyond.
The FIM Superbike World Championship is one of the world’s leading championships and allows riders from all over the world to compete at the highest level with production-derived motorcycles. While the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will continue to compete in World Superbike with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado, the 2023 season will also see it field a Supersport team for the first time with the formation of the new PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda Team counting on younger and skilled riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, as they carve their professional path.
All four riders, together with Midori Moriwaki and representatives from PETRONAS unveiled the Honda CBR1000RR-R and Honda CBR600RR with which they will compete in this season’s Superbike and Supersport World Championship classes during a virtual presentation. The beautiful new livery, which stands out for its distinctive PETRONAS colour scheme, makes an unmistakeable impact both on and off track.
With the arrival of PETRONAS, MIE Racing will also focus on wider-ranging, long-term projects as well as the development of an ‘academy program’ that will see the partners join forces to harness WorldSBK and WorldSSP as the platforms and catalyst for a Malaysian talent development program that seeks to promote and develop the talents of up-and-coming riders. This venture will enable PETRONAS to exhibit its expertise and conduct product testing and development with the team, which will help amplify the energy company’s premium products for the high-performance production Superbikes.
Owner of MIE Racing, Midori Moriwaki: “It is a real source of pride and satisfaction for the MIE Racing Honda Team to be able to announce a multi-year partnership with PETRONAS and hope to expand our presence in the production-derived championship with our Supersport team together.”
PETRONAS Senior General Manager of Group Strategic Communications, Datin Anita Azrina Abdul Aziz: “PETRONAS is extremely honoured to team up with Midori and we are very excited to embark on this new project. We have worked with Midori in the past and we look forward to a successful partnership with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team, as the FIM Superbike World Championship will provide the opportunity to push our advancement of fluid technology in motorsports and to commercially position the PETRONAS brand.
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“We are eager to see the riders perform, both in WorldSBK and WorldSSP. We will also have the opportunity to develop the skills of Malaysian talents in the two-wheel segment, something we very much look forward to,” she added.