Tamada confirmed at new Honda team.

It has been officially announced that double 2004 race winner Makoto Tamada will ride for a new Honda team in 2005, 'Japan Italy Racing', using Michelin tyres.

Tetsuo Iida - who up until 2002 was the president of Honda Europe NV - has been named as president of Japan Italy Racing (JiR), while Luca Montiron (formerly of Pramac) will be its managing director. The new team brings the number of RCVs on the 2005 MotoGP grid up to seven.

JiR will be backed by Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. - a global company which provides products ranging from digital cameras and medical instruments to optical pickup lenses - who will be their title sponsor. The race team will thus be called 'Konica Minolta Honda'.

"This announcement is very important for me, because it means the realisation of the challenging spirit I have learnt at Honda for a long time," said JiR president Iida. "I appreciate very much the support of the two important global companies Konica Minolta and Honda.

"I hope we will realise every time an excitement race for all the people loves motorcycle racing. Our objective in the creation of JiR is surly an important one and it will require a particular full dedication. The title of World Champion is our sincere goal," he declared.

"I am proud of what we have achieved in such a short time, all this is thanks to the support of Konica Minolta and Honda Racing," added Montiron. "It is now the moment to do our best to create a good organisation and to produce the best results.

"I am sure that the direction taken is the right one and I strongly feel that Makoto has matured a lot in the past two seasons," he continued. "He has to be considered now as ready to reach always the top positions.

"The technical direction of the team will be headed by the engineer Giulio Bernardelle. The team will consist of a mix of Japanese and Italian technicians," he revealed.

As well as his two race victories, Tamada claimed three pole positions and finished sixth in the final 2004 championship standings, riding a Pramac run Camel Honda on Bridgestone tyres. Pramac have been linked with Aprilia for 2005.

Tamada has been with Bridgestone since his MotoGP debut in 2003, but will switch to the standard setting Michelin brand next season - and so face the likes of Valentino Rossi, Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi on a more level playing field.

"I can't wait to begin this new challenge!" smiled the Japanese star. "I feel very lucky to have this level of infrastructure exclusively dedicated to me. It will be a very demanding season for sure, but I have great motivation and I'm sure we will be able to claim important results with the technical package we have at our disposal."

It is not yet clear how JiR have solved the problem of finding a grid slot for 2005 - or indeed whether the 'problem' of limited grid places, which resulted in Pramac renting a grid slot for Tamada from Sito Pons last year, even exists anymore...

Meanwhile, the only remaining 2005 Honda seat yet to be officially confirmed is now that of Max Biaggi - Tamada's 2004 team-mate - at the Repsol backed factory team.