When a live stream is happening in Hangar7, you can expect a sugary rush of excitement. Nothing had us prepared for the in your face fizz of the 2017 Honda Fireblades that were unveiled there today though. Wearing full Red Bull warpaint, the new bikes look absolutely stunning. Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl can sleep safe in the knowledge that even if they wobble round at the back of the grid all season, pulling wheelies and waving to the crowd, they know they’ve got the trickest looking bikes out there by a mile. Check these out.
Nicky Hayden said; “It’s a new year with a new bike, new title partner and new team mate, so there are definitely many changes ahead and a lot of things to look forward to. This is my second year in World Superbike so I hope to take the experience I made last year and take it up to the next level. I’m really glad to get back together with Red Bull, who I have represented in the past, and it’s a great opportunity for me. We have to focus now on the job ahead and work as hard as we can in order to be ready for the season opener. The level of the competition is higher than ever and we have a big job ahead of us, but everybody is really motivated and I cannot wait to get started.”
Teammate Stefan Bradl said; “I’m really looking forward to the new season! It’s a whole new experience for me, and a new championship where I’ve never raced before. It’s going to be a very interesting partnership with Honda and Red Bull, which is undoubtedly an amazing brand, and one that has been supporting me for my whole racing career. I’m really happy to be a Red Bull athlete and even happier now that it has also become the team’s title partner. We have the chance to represent the brand in each and every event all around the world, so I’m really excited about that. We have a new Fireblade for the season, so it will take a little bit of time to dial it in but we’ll do our best to take it to the top as soon as possible. All in all it’s a great project and step by step we will make it a successful one.”
Team manager Ronald ten Kate said; “This new season comes with a lot of anticipation for several good reasons: we have a new title partner in Red Bull, we will field the new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and put it in the hands of two incredibly gifted and experienced in Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl. We are all extremely motivated for this new chapter and committed to battle at the sharp end of the field. I would like to personally thank all sponsors, partners and everyone involved for helping make all of this possible. I’m confident that 2017 is going to be a great year for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team.”
What none of the team said is “Fuck me, these bikes look cool as fuck! If paint made us go faster, we just picked up another 15mph at the top end easy…” Shame, because that’s exactly what we’d have said.
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Words: Johnatsuperbike Images: Red Bull Media