Repsol appeared on the livery of the Honda NSR500 in the premier class of the world championship in 1995, with Mick Doohan and Alex Criville as riders.
Since then, the partnership has remained uninterrupted, with the current season marking its 30th anniversary.
The partnership between Repsol and Honda has yielded 15 championship titles, 183 victories and 455 podiums.
However, after Marc Marquez’s departure at the end of 2023, the oil company enforced a clause in its contract to reduce its financial contribution and, in exchange, its presence on the livery of this year’s bike.
The bike, ridden this year by Luca Marini and Joan Mir, features Honda’s branding predominately over Repsol’s.
The move was made in anticipation that media exposure, especially on TV, would be seriously affected by the departure of eight-time world champion Marquez, who left Honda after 12 years to ride a Ducati with the Gresini team.
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
With Marquez’s exit, Honda had also lost Red Bull’s sponsorship, the Austrian energy drink company deciding to follow the Spanish rider to Gresini as his personal sponsor.
While the Japanese manufacturer has several offers to decorate its bike from next year, Repsol wants to focus on the promotion of non-fossil fuels.
Repsol is believed to be interested in continuing to link its image to MotoGP in the future, especially by being one of the suppliers of the new, more sustainable fuels adopted by the series.
The current regulations introduced for this year made it mandatory for MotoGP teams to use 40% non-fossil fuels, a percentage that should reach 100% in 2027, the first year of the technical regulation change.
Honda has continued to struggle to be competitive in 2024, with factory rider Mir having scored 13 points while Marini is the only full-time rider yet to score.
Honda is last in the constructors’ standings, 185 points behind Ducati after six rounds.