Honda’s new World Superbike Championship pairing of Jonathan Rea and Hiroshi Aoyama kick off their preparations for the 2012 season with a three-day test at Phillip Island in Australia this week on 17-19 January.

The team will be running the SBK race specification 2012 CBR1000RR Fireblade for the first time since the 20th anniversary version of Honda’s iconic sports machine was launched last September.

The team will start its 2012 campaign boosted by news that, following a year as title sponsor, Castrol will remain as a key secondary partner until the end of the 2013 season.

The global lubricants manufacturer used Honda’s World Superbike effort as part of a worldwide marketing campaign to re-launch its Power 1 brand in 2011.

Its continued support of the team extends a commercial and technical partnership between Honda and Castrol which dates back to 1959, when the Japanese manufacturer first started world championship racing.

“We’re delighted that Castrol has decided to continue its long-standing association with Honda and, in particular, our World Superbike campaign,” Robert Watherston, motorcycle racing manager at Honda Motor Europe, said.

“We are especially please to have signed a two-year agreement, which takes us to the end of the 2013 season.”