Road Racing
From 1995, the team entered its own team in regional Dutch road racing. Managed by Ronald ten Kate,[6] each season Ten Kate Racing has increased in scope and size, and now takes a team of 28 - including technicians, administrative staff and four riders - to contest the World Superbike and Supersport champ:[5] With four engine builders, we are always looking to increase the performance of the motors. But there is a lot more to it than that. I would much rather have five horsepower less in a good chassis than five horsepower more that cannot be used. For that reason we have brought data-logging and suspension specialists into the team over the past few years to help us develop the whole package.
The team first entered the Supersport World Championship full-time in, using Honda CBR600F4i motorcycles. In Ten Kate rider Fabien Foret won the championship, Honda's first in Supersport.
The team went on to win all of the last six Supersport World Championships using the Honda CBR600RR. In Chris Vermeulen won the title, followed by Karl Muggeridge in, Sébastien Charpentier in , who retained his title in , the first rider ever to do so, and Kenan Sofuoğlu who won the championship in. Also in 2008 Ten Kate wins with Andrew Pitt.
In the team also moved up to the Superbike World Championship using the Honda CBR1000RR and Chris Vermeulen as its single rider. Despite being a privateer entry with no support from Honda who had withdrawn its support from the Superbike World Championship, Chris Vermeulen finished fourth in the championship with four wins and was in contention for the title until the final round of the season.
The team expanded into a two motorcycles operation in with Karl Muggeridge joining Chris Vermeulen. Vermeulen managed 6 wins and finished the championship runner-up while Muggeridge had a poorer season and finished 11th.
Chris Vermeulen moved to MotoGP in and was replaced by Superbike World Champion James Toseland. Toseland finished the season runner-up with 3 race wins, while teammate Karl Muggeridge once again had a poorer season finishing 12th.
In James Toseland was joined in the team by Roberto Rolfo. Toseland got 8 race wins and won the championship in the final race of the season by a margin of 2 points. Rolfo finished 8th overall.
For the team continues to use Honda motorcycles, CBR1000RR in Superbikes,[7] and CBR600RR for Supersport.[8]
With James Toseland moving to MotoGP, former MotoGP rider Carlos Checa and 2 times British Superbike Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari join the team,[7] while Supersport World Champion Kenan Sofuoğlu will ride a third motorcycle under the banner of Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr.[9]
Kenan Sofuoğlu and Supersport World Champion Andrew Pitt ride for the team in the 2009 Supersport World Championship.[8]
Honda has announced its plans for the 2013 World Superbike and World Supersport championships, which include a new four-rider line-up, a comprehensive technical development and testing programme and a new title sponsor.[10]
In the World Superbike championship, current rider Jonathan Rea has signed with the team once more and will team-up with fellow Briton Leon Haslam on the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. In the World Supersport championship, Italian Lorenzo Zanetti will ride Honda's CBR600RR alongside Michael van der Mark from the Netherlands.
Italian snack manufacturer Pata is the new title sponsor of the reinvigorated squad which will be known as the Pata Honda World Superbike and Pata Honda World Supersport teams. Both groups will once again be run by the Netherlands-based Ten Kate organisation.
For Jonathan Rea, 2013 marked a fifth year on Honda's CBR1000RR Fireblade and his sixth season of racing with Ten Kate. The 25-year-old enjoyed a busy 2012, combining his World Superbike duties – including wins at Assen and Donington Park - with winning the Suzuka 8-hour race.
More recently, Northern Irishman Rea has replaced the injured Casey Stoner in the Repsol Honda MotoGP team, riding back-to-back Grands Prix with the final three rounds of World Superbike. Haslam, 29, returns to Honda's CBR machinery after a three-year absence to continue a strong family link to the Japanese manufacturer. It was begun by his father, Ron, who won Formula 1 world championships and raced with Honda in 500cc Grands Prix.
With his own 250cc and 500cc GP experience, the younger Haslam, from Derbyshire in the UK, has been racing in the World Superbike championship since 2009 and was runner-up in the 2010 series. He has amassed a total of 28 podium finishes, including three race wins.
Lorenzo Zanetti is from Brescia in Italy and has been in the World Superbike paddock for three years, but began his career with Honda, winning the RS125 GP Cup in Italy in 2004. The 25-year-old finished third in the 2011 Superstock 1000 Championship and has spent the 2012 season competing in the World Superbike series with a best result of eighth last time out at the Nurburgring in Germany.
Michael van der Mark, the 19-year-old from Gouda in the Netherlands began his career racing in the Dutch 125cc Junior Cup and has spent the last five years on Honda machinery.
