Witnessing the pinnacle of motorcycle racing right here in India was a moment of immense pride for every Indian. The BharatGP was a spectacle of colossal magnitudes and it finally marked Indian representation on the world motorcycle racing stage as Buddh International Circuit played host to MotoGP. Along with that, there was another thing to be proud of for us; witnessing the capabilities of Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE on the racetrack.
In addition to being at the forefront of motorcycle engine oil technology, Castrol POWER1 has been a longstanding partner of xBhp as well. As you can tell, being able to represent a brand that has been represented by top riders in MotoGP is a matter of great pride for us. The sight of LCR Honda Castrol rider Stefan Bradl’s RC213V wrapped in a Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE livery was a sight to behold as the German rider fought to tame a racetrack that the grid was racing on for the first time.
The LCR Racing Team has been a part of motorcycle racing for nearly three decades. With massive success in the now defunct 125cc and 250cc classes. They stepped up to MotoGP in 2006 and have had a lot of success in the premier class as well. Castrol POWER1 stepped in to support LCR Racing Team rider Cal Crutchlow in 2015 for the first time. Since then, Castrol POWER1 has been an integral part of the LCR Racing Team. That said, let us dive a little deeper into the history of the LCR Racing Team.
LCR stands for Lucio Cecchinello Racing. A very successful rider in the 125cc class himself, Lucio created his own racing team in 1996. The team found a lot of success in the 125cc class with both Lucio Cecchinello and Noboru Ueda scoring multiple victories and podiums. In 2002, the LCR team started their campaign in the 250cc class as well. While Cecchinello continued in the 125cc class, their 250cc class representation consisted of a certain Casey Stoner! Another notable name in their 250cc ranks was the Frenchman, Randy de Puniet.
Cecchinello stopped racing in 2003 but the team continued to race in both classes. In 2005 though, the team withdrew from the 125cc class, and in 2006, they let go of the 250cc class as well to prepare for their big move to the premier class! They partnered with Honda and were represented by Casey Stoner in the premier class riding HRC’s RC211V. From then on till 2014, the LCR team was represented by Carlos Checa, Randy de Puniet, Tony Elias and even Stefan Bradl who is the current test rider for HRC.
In 2015, the LCR Racing Team expanded to two motorcycles on the grid. Cal Crutchlow was riding for the LCR Honda team when, after some issues with his prior sponsorship, Castrol POWER1 stepped in to support the LCR Racing Team. This was also the year when the LCR Racing Team became an official 2-bike satellite team for Honda in MotoGP. Since then, the team has not looked back. Powered by Castrol POWER1, Cal Crutchlow enjoyed a lot of success in his run with the LCR Racing Team.
After a poor start to the season in 2016, Cal Crutchlow bounced back. He put his RC213V powered by Castrol POWER1 on the podium in the German Grand Prix followed by a victory at Brno. Another victory at Phillip Island established Crutchlow as a very competitive rider, LCR as a very competitive team, and Castrol POWER1 as one of the best engine oils in the game! Crutchlow raced for LCR Honda Castrol till 2020. In 2021 and 2022, Alex Marquez, the Moto3 and Moto2 World Champion, had the distinction of riding for the LCR Honda Castrol Team.
In 2023, Alex Rins signed for the LCR Honda Castrol Team and took the Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE powered RC213V to a stunning victory at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Though the RC213V has struggled in general for a multitude of reasons this year, the engine department is being well tended to by Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE. In the BharatGP, Alex Rins was out due to injury and the LCR Honda Castrol team was represented by Stefan Bradl, the 2011 Moto2 World Champion.
Victim of a multiple rider crash in the sprint race, Stefan Bradl found himself in point scoring position in the main race on Sunday. Considering the fact that Bradl is not a full-time racer anymore, this was a very good result and another testament to the grit of LCR Honda and the prowess of Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE. The very first MotoGP race in India saw searing temperatures put both the man and the machine to test at the racetrack.
Stefan Bradl was a part of the LCR Honda Racing Team from 2012 to 2014 where he took the RC213V to a podium and multiple top 10 finishes. The 2011 Moto2 World Champion has been a crucial part of Honda’s MotoGP efforts as a test, wildcard, and replacement rider. Stefan Bradl has also ridden the Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE powered RC213V on multiple occasions. It was a pleasure to see him riding the Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE liveried RC213V on the Buddh International Circuit where he scored a point in the main race despite being taken out in the Sprint.
The current RC213V is a powerhouse and perhaps the most powerful RC213V ever. A 1,000cc 90-degree V4 that makes nearly 300 horsepower; that is a heck of an engine and combined with the temperature seen at the Buddh International Circuit during the race, it is not a long shot to say that Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE had its work cut out. Despite that, the engine performed flawlessly and Stefan Bradl completed the main race and managed to score a point as well. And as the motorcycle improves we are sure Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE will more than keep up with it. After that, we’ll probably have the privilege of watching another Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE livery taking the fight to the front!
This is a testament to the Liquid Engineering that Castrol takes a lot of pride in and with Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE, they have truly created the ultimate motorcycle engine oil. If it can take care of a fire-breathing prototype engine in the most strenuous of conditions, we can rely on it to take care of our many ‘Precious’es in the xBhp Garage as well.
