Aspar MotoGP Team Reveals Honda RCV1000R Livery

Team Aspar revealed its new livery for its Honda RCV1000R racebikes. The team revealed the silver and green livery in Malaysia, where riders Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama will join the rest of the MotoGP grid in preseason test at the Sepang circuit.

The colors represent the Malaysian energy drink manufacturer Drive M7 which signed a three-year deal to be the team’s title sponsor. The predominantly silver color scheme blends in with the RCV1000R’s frame and swingarm while a bright neon green highlights the fairing nose and fuel tank, along with Hayden’s signature #69 and Aoyama’s #7.

Representing its riders’ nationalities, the Drive M7 Aspar RCV1000Rs sport an American flag motif below the seat on Hayden’s machine, and the Japanese flag on Aoyama’s.

The 2014 season brings a lot of changes to Aspar and its riders. Hayden joins the team after five seasons with the Ducati factory team while Aoyama raced last season for the Avintia Blusens team. As for Aspar, the team is switching from the Aprilia claiming-rule machine to Honda’s RCV1000R in the new-for-2014 Open class.

“The challenge of competing as an open bike and the new rules will be interesting to see how it all plays out and if it really will become the future of MotoGP,” says Hayden. “The first test we were not as competitive as we need to be but I trust HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) will help us very soon and find us more power. I must get everything out of this new test to learn the bike and the new team and be ready to for the opener in Qatar. I have great fans and great sponsors and hope I can make them proud this year.”

[Source: Aspar]

By Dennis Chung