Mugen to Race the 2012 TT Zero

Mugen is a company founded by Soichiro Honda's son in 1973, and since then it has had a history more or less parallel to that of Honda. If we take a look at the official website of Mugen (the English version) we see that the transformations and preparations on Honda cars abound in its history. But from time to time Mugen has also made its first steps in the world of two wheels. Either when they made the prototype of the Honda Mugen MRV1000 or bikes for the famous Suzuka 8 hours. Now the news has broken that an electric Mugen will participate in the next TT Zero on the Isle of Man 2012.

The idea of ​​participating in a championship of such recent creation and in which everything we see is a good part of the most cutting-edge technology of the moment is always interesting, but quickly some media have begun to speculate on whether what will be seen on the Island de Man will not be a Electric Honda camouflaged under Mugen stickers. The reason for this very strange idea is based on the fact that if a motorcycle sporting the golden wing mark took part in the race, but was not able to finish or was defeated by the other brands, it could put into question the good name of the industrial giant.. But I believe that this reasoning is wrong.

And I base it on the fact that Honda has always sold us that their products were derived from the technology that was applied in the competition. Soichiro Honda himself made it his goal to beat the Isle of Man TT when he started making motorcycles, racing for the first time on the island in 1959 and winning the first race just two years later. What sense would it make now to hide his participation in the race that is supposed to be the last frontier of two-wheel racing. Fear of ridicule? I think that for the Japanese ideology it is precisely the opposite, if they arrive at something and do not succeed they are able to insist almost indefinitely until they achieve their objectives.

Be that as it may, this summer for the Isle of Man will race a Japanese prototype as it did in the late 1950s. Whether the race expires or simply ends will be a matter of time, because Japanese perseverance will already be in charge of putting what may fail in this first electric foray.