Ten Kate Honda Continues with Hannspree, Signs Foret and Marino

The Ten Kate Honda World Supersport championship has renewed its agreement with title sponsor Hannspree for the 2011 season, marking the fifth successive year that the consumer electronics manufacturer has sponsored the team.

For the 2011 campaign, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda will field an all-French rider line-up featuring Florian Marino and Fabien Foret.

Foret, 37, returns to the Ten Kate Honda team for the first time since winning the World Supersport championship in 2002. He has a total of 12 race wins and 27 podium finishes ever since.

“This is a great news for me and I’m really looking forward to this season. It's such a good feeling to come back into the Ten Kate family – we know each other pretty well now and I have the same motivation end determination as in 2002,” Foret said. “I hope obviously to enjoy my bike and my team and have some great moments again together. I have watched the development of the CBR600RR over the years and it remains the bike to be on because it has won so many championships.”

Marino, 17, has only recently started his professional racing career, having finished as runner-up in last year’s European Superstock 600 series with the Ten Kate Junior team.((

“It’s still a dream, and I find it very difficult to find the words to describe my feelings. I first spoke with Gerrit ten Kate about this possibility at the last race at Magny-Cours, but I was so happy when we were finally able to sign at the end of December,” Marino stated. “But, of course, if I have the opportunity to win in 2011, I won’t wait! I have been training very hard to prepare for this year but there is no pressure on me and I want to enjoy my learning experience – especially at fast circuits like Assen and Monza!”