Honda Racing Corporation confirmed they have signed Hiroshi Aoyama, 2009 250cc World Champion, as a test rider in 2015.

The first step of this new project will see Aoyama riding the new Honda Open Class bike with a pneumatic valve engine, the RC213V-RS, in Valencia this weekend - for his final race with the Drive M7 Aspar team.

In next week’s three-day test at Valencia the 2015 RC213V-RS machine will be shared between Karel Abraham and Nicky Hayden.

Shuhei Nakamoto, HRC Executive Vice President, commented, "We are very pleased to confirm Hiro as a test rider for next year. He’s done a very good job this year and especially in these final races. This is an important project for HRC and we believe that he will be a valued addition for the development of HRC machines in the future. We have a long relationship with Hiro, and we look forward to continuing this into the future."