A.P. Honda backs Nakarin
“A.P. Honda” announced its continuing support for Nakarin “Chip” Athiratpuwapat in the Moto3 World Championship and signed up six members of the booming girl band BNK48 as brand ambassadors to support team racers in all circuits.
Under “Honda Team Asia”, Nakarin will be the only rising star from Thailand who will participate in the Moto3 World Championship for the second year throughout the season, including the home MotoGP event in October. The Khon Kaen native has set his sights on finishing within the top 10 at the end of the 2018 season.
“Our racers will also have an opportunity to upgrade themselves to international competitions such as MotoGP and World Superbike. That will help create new racing heroes for Thailand and also make motorsport the next trend. We would like to make it to the next trend by 2030,” said Yoichi Mizutani, president of AP Honda Co Ltd, at a press conference to announce its annual sport policy.
Yoichi said AP Honda aims to help racers to perform at their fullest at international competitions such as Asia Road Racing, Suzuka 4 Hours Endurance Race, Asia Talent Cup CVE and Moto3. “Our goal is to drive our racers to take the podium,” he said.
The company also appointed six members from BNK48 as AP Honda Racing Thailand Team ambassadors, including Israpa “Tawan” Thawatpakdee, Kantheera “Noey” Watcharatassanakul, Milin “Namnueng” Doktian, and Patchanan “Orn” Jiajirachok. The singers will take turns in showing up at all circuits to cheer the team.
The motorcycle company also announced a plan to groom youngsters to achieve riding skills through proper training. The training will be held at the “AP Honda Academy” and “Thailand Talent Cup”, which will help young racers to reach the regional and eventually international levels.
