SHARPEST BLADE

It’s a magical, almost surreal feeling to slipstream three-time world champion and grand prix icon Freddie Spencer aboard the 2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, the long-awaited redesign of Honda’s open-class superbike. But while tucked behind the bubble and letting the powerful inline-four rip toward redline across Losail International Circuit’s front straightaway in top gear, it somehow feels just right.

Honda’s history is deeply rooted in racing, and this bike exemplifies what the company has learned through years of handcrafting works machines. Sure, Big Red has created countless millions of more-utilitarian motorcycles over the decades because that’s what pays the bills. But Honda has never lost a sense of what it is: a company that has tirelessly tested itself and its technology in racing from