Koji Watanabe (渡辺康治), Representative Director and President of Honda Racing, will leave office, and Keiichi Yasuda (安田啓一) will become his successor. The new structure is scheduled to launch on 1 January 2027.
Honda Racing (HRC) announced that its Representative Director and President will change on 1 January 2027. Current president Koji Watanabe (渡辺康治) will leave office, and current Executive Vice President Keiichi Yasuda (安田啓一) will newly become president. The new structure is scheduled to launch with the start of the 2027 season, as part of personnel changes aligned with the operation of the motorsports season.
In 2020, Watanabe (渡辺康治) oversaw motorsports operations and communications as Honda's Executive Officer, General Manager of the Brand Communications Division and General Manager of the Public Relations Department, and became Representative Director and President of HRC in 2022. During his tenure, he worked to expand the global structure, including integrating four-wheel racing into HRC, formerly a two-wheel racing company, establishing a structure aimed at returning to F1, and reorganizing HPD in the United States as HRC US.
Yasuda (安田啓一), the incoming president, built a long career focused mainly on human resources at Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and served successively as president of overseas subsidiaries. He became head of the human resources division in 2023 and has served as Representative Director and Executive Vice President of HRC since 2026. As the new president, he has indicated a policy of building a structure geared toward victory through investment in human resources and organizational strengthening.