Fireblades from all over the UK and beyond will be heading to Donington Park at the end of May to make Bladeday2 – a celebration of the machine that has defined the modern supersports motorcycle.
Fans will be in for an awesome four-day festival of motorcycling at the East Midlands circuit. Bladeday2 will see a flash of Fireblades light up Donington on Friday 23rd May, immediately followed by round four of the 2008 British Superbike championship, which kicks off on Saturday, with qualifying on Sunday and the exciting race action taking place on Bank Holiday Monday, 26 May.
Bladeday2 follows similar lines to the inaugural event in 2000 that saw up to 2500 Fireblades assembled at Silverstone. Fans of the model that has sold 32,000 units in the UK since its launch in 1992 can look forward to a host of events and activities.
Donington is home to the Ron Haslam Race School and ‘Rocket’ Ron and his team will be running track sessions throughout the day for Fireblade owners who fancy riding the circuit that will host BSB, WSB and MotoGP events in 2008. The first 600 riders who register at the track can enjoy a 90-minute ‘Fireblade Experience’ to include a 15-minute track session for only £10.00, in addition to the entry fee of £10.00.
There’ll be Fireblade stars galore from past and present, including eleven-time TT winner, Philip McCallan, who was closely involved with the development of the original Fireblade. He’ll be joined by Jim Moodie, who won Honda’s 100th TT Victory on a Fireblade.
HM Plant Honda’s Leon Haslam, Cal Crutchlow and Steve Brogan, Bike Animal Hydrex Honda’s Guy Martin and James Ellison, together with Isle of Man legend, 13-times TT winner and outright lap record holder – on a ‘Blade of course – John McGuinness, will all be on hand to answer questions and sign autographs throughout the day.
Some of the most memorable Fireblades of the past 16 years will form the hub of an amazing ‘Blade exhibition: bikes like McCallan’s Motorcycle City Blade that won the re-introduce 1996 Production TT; there’ll be a display of Honda’s 50th anniversary Blades, and amazing Evo-Blade, and a fine example of a blade from every year of production.
The ‘Father of the Fireblade’, Tadao Baba, will be coming to Donington, as well as the Honda engineer responsible for the class-leading 2008 machine, Koyoshi Yoshii.
There’ll be plenty more on offer at Bladeday2 with a number of trade stands staffed by Honda-related parts and accessories suppliers, a wide range of official Honda and Bladeday2 merchandise and the Arai Race Service truck.
Throughout the day Fireblade technical clinics will be hosted by people who know the machine inside-out; people like Honda (UK)’s Dave Hancock, who was one of the development riders for the iconic motorcycle and has had a guiding hand in all models since the original launch.
There’ll also be competitions galore and a host of different categories for proud owners to enter their machine into: Best ’92 ‘Blade, Best Paint, Best Special, Best Trike, Works Rat ‘ Blade, Best Original Use of ‘Blade Engine, and more.
Circuit commentator and the 'Voice of British Superbikes', Fred Clarke, will link the day together on the microphone, interviewing and chatting with personalities and visitors.
Honda UK’s General Manager for Motorcycles, Steve Martindale commented, “This is such an amazing story. The Fireblade really astonished people back in 1992 and it’s still doing it today. It holds the outright lap record at the TT, it’s the current British and World Superbike Champion, so it’s still leading the way.
Bladeday2 is another chance to celebrate this extraordinary bike” he added, “and a great way for Honda to say thank you to the many thousands of customers who have owned one and all the engineers who have developed the ‘Blade over the years.”
Tickets
Entry to Bladeday2 at Donington will cost just £10.00 (£10.00 extra if you wish to join in with the track events), with children under 16 getting in for free. There are no advanced bookings, so please pay on the door. Note - no credit or debit cards are going to be accepted for entry payment, so please bring cash!
Getting to Donington Park
View Honda's direction pack with details of how to find Donington Park, and where the 'Launch Pad' is located.
