Cottet Audio has reached an agreement with the factory Honda team of the MotoGP World Championship – Repsol Honda – to become the advisers and official partner in all matters relating to the team’s hearing protection.

Ear exposure to constant loud noises can cause hearing loss and in some cases may even cause irreversible damage to the inner ear. This is why Honda has commissioned Cottet Audio to undertake a clinical analysis that allows them to have a diagnosis with individual instructions of how to look after the hearing health of its members and thus minimise any risk of impact.

The Repsol Honda team consists of more than 35 people, in addition to riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, to whom Cottet Audio has already carried out a comprehensive study to analyse possible audiometric hearing problems. As a precaution, Cottet Audio has already delivered customised protection plugs to ensure audio quality, and has taken advantage of equipping them with a system that allows a connection with their communication devices via Bluetooth.

Cottet’s aim as Official Technical Audiology Partner will be to work closely with the Repsol Honda team by tracking the hearing health of its members throughout the MotoGP World Championship.

In the words of Alex Cottet, Grupo Cottet’s Marketing Director and expert in the two wheeler sector due to his professional relationship from a few seasons ago, “in racing, there are many people who have prolonged exposure to more than 150 decibels of noise; for this reason, Repsol Honda and Cottet have decided to launch this partnership and contribute in this way to benefit the team’s hearing health care.”

Meanwhile, Lluis Blanchard, Technical Director of Cottet Audiology, adds “the noise produced by MotoGP motorbikes is so loud and prolonged, that it is even louder than the noise made by a jet plane at 10 metres and is above the hearing threshold for pain. It should also be noted that this noise is even louder in the pits.” Cottet Audio conducts hearing studies tailored to athletes from different modalities, including several pilots of World Motorcycle Racing Championship, and in the portfolio they plan to collaborate with other sports disciplines in the same vein for hearing-loss prevention.

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is a division of Honda Motor Company created in 1982. The company combines participation in motorcycle racing worldwide with developing machines with high potential for competition. Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of cutting-edge technologies that are then used in the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC also contributes to the promotion of motorcycling through a range of activities including the sale of production racing motorcycles, support for satellite equipment and driver education programmes.

The development of new Honda products includes research to generate new technologies, materials, design and development to transfer these advances into commercial products. Research is the first priority for HRC and Honda R&D MSD, because it is dedicated to the development of machines to win races with a focus on creating next-generation technologies. New developments arising from these research efforts have been rapidly incorporated into the factory riders. At the same time, it works with HRC Honda R & D to develop ways to apply the latest advances in the development of Honda production motorcycles.

Cottet is a family business founded in 1902, committed to the visual and auditory health of customers. Grupo Cottet has 50 points of sale distributed throughout the Spanish territory and Andorra. More information: www.cottet.com