How do you say Značky Honda a Castrol svižně začaly využívat tento nový kanál s tržním potenciálem, a opět velmi rychle zvítězily... V letech 1988 a 1989 se Fred Merkel na Hondě RC30 vrátil do mistrovství World Superbike. Byl to začátek trendu, který povede k pěti jasným mistrovským titulům v příštích 14 letech. Merkel, který úspěšně soutěžil tři roky, představoval začátek této nové fáze vztahů mezi společnostmi Honda a Castrol. in English? With race bikes that weren't two million dollars away from the equivalent road bike and an oil which you could buy off the shelf (albeit a couple of years later!), Honda and Castrol were quick to exploit this new channel to market opportunity and once again very quickly became winner. 1988 and 1989 saw Fred Merkel on his Honda RC30 take back-to-back World Superbike Championships. It was the beginning of a trend that would see the partnership take five outright World Championships over the next 14 years. Merkel, who competed successfully for three years, was the beginning of the next stage in Honda's relationship with Castrol.