Hayden With Honda And Aspar For 2014-15

 The Thursday announcement at Phillip Island marks the start of a new era for the Valencia-based team headed up by former racer Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’, which will switch to the Honda bike from ART machinery. Hayden joins from Ducati Team, marking his first team move for five years, while his new teammate is yet to be announced. Both the Honda and Hayden deals have been confirmed for two seasons.

“It is great news for the Power Electronics Aspar Team to have the acquired services of Honda and a rider of the profile of Nicky Hayden,” says team CEO Aspar. “We are taking a huge step forward in terms of quality, prestige and image. We have grown a lot in a short space of time and we are all very excited about this new project with Honda. It is the factory that the Aspar Team first started with back in 1992 and I have great memories of that period. Our objective is to continue being a reference point in the premier class.

“I think the combination of Honda's MotoGP™ Production Racer and Nicky Hayden is going to be a very successful one. We are thrilled to be working with a manufacturer with the history that Honda has and a rider like Nicky, a World Champion with huge experience. It will be a big change for us after so many years working with Italian factories, but we have high hopes for this new project. We are up for the challenge and we will give maximum effort to making sure the Power Electronics Aspar Team continues achieving top results.”

In 2013, the outfit is running Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet, with the Spaniard firmly on course to claim the overall honours for CRT runners for the second consecutive season. Using the spec Magneti Marelli ECU software in 2014, Aspar will be classed as an ‘Open’ team as opposed to a ‘Factory’ entry, according to the official labeling which was confirmed by the Grand Prix Commission on Thursday.