Announcing an all-new rider line-up for its 2018 Road Racing campaign, Honda Motor Europe is delighted to welcome Ian Hutchinson and Lee Johnston. It's nice to see Hutchy in the HRC team, while John McGuinness left it.

A 23-time TT winner left the team for a number of reasons. First, the annoying failure of the Honda motorcycle caused a serious injury to John McGuinness. Secondly, the entire last season of the Honda Fireblade was not impressive, as the work of mechanics - too many mistakes. John missed almost the entire season of RR 2017, so he decided to change the situation.

“I’m really looking forward to getting started with Honda Racing. It’s a new challenge, and I have to start everything from scratch. I performed a little on Honda motorcycles, but it was really successful. In 2009/2010 I rode with Padgetts Honda, where I scored five-TT wins in a week. I know the Fireblade pretty well, but I haven’t ridden the Fireblade SP2 yet. So I will have to wait until the new season comes, "Ian Hutchinson said.