Winning is Everything
Everyone knows the RC30 is a race bike with mirrors, horn, signals and an air filter. Honda built it for navigating around race tracks so a mention of the racing is in order. The Honda RC30 was simply too much for the competition. A lot of the RC30's great performances were by non factory equipped riders making the racing even better, if a bit one sided manufacturer wise.
The Isle of Man is the RC30's ancestral home. Little
wonder the RC30 and the RC30 based RVF's made Mona's Isle their realm.
An excellent suspension, a tough and flexible engine, ease of use, and the best
testosterone filled riders made for some jaw dropping lap
speeds. In spite of the RC30's intended dominance in TT and Endurance racing, the
VFR750R the RC30 was also quite good at the short circuits; Fred Merkel and Oscar Rumi are testament to that statement.
Some of the Honda RC30 race history (1988 and 1989 ONLY):
- 1988 Australian Superbike Championship.
- 1988 Austrian Superbike Championship.
- 1988 Canadian Superbike Championship (see picture above).
- 1988 FIM Formula 1 Title.
- 1988 FIM World Superbike Rider and
Manufacturer Championships.
- 1988 Isle of Man Production B, Formula 1
and Senior Wins.
- 1989 Australian Superbike Championship.
- 1989 British Superbike / Supercup
Championship.
- 1989 FIM Formula 1 Title.
- 1989 FIM World Superbike Rider and
Manufacturer Championships.
- 1989 French Superbike Championship.
- 1989 German Superbike.
- 1989 Isle of Man Production B and Formula
1.
- 1989 Spanish Superbike Championship.
- 1989 Suzuka 8 Hours (in reality Alex and
Dominique rode an RVF).
After 1989 it becomes an enormous task to account for the individual wins, championships and broken records. From 1990 to 1993 (and later) the RC30 was still competitive at top levels. Some of the memorable retirement years racing would include:
- 1993 Australian Superbike Championship with Troy Corser riding a very much modified and well used machine.
- James Fraser duking it out with the factory superbike teams on his rat-bike.
- Nick Jeffries winning the 1993 Isle of Man F1 Race on the RC30 based RVF. Followed home by three more RVF/RC30s.
- Phillip McCallen winning the 1993 Isle of Man Senior Race on the RC30 based RVF. Also followed home by three more RVF/RC30s.
World Superbike used to come to Canada, believe it or not. Here are some race recap videos of the WSB races at Mosport in 1990. Stephane Mertens did the best.