Joan Mir admitted that he was «angry» with Honda after Tuesday’s MotoGP test in Barcelona, as the Japanese manufacturer failed to bring any new upgrades to the beleaguered RC213V.With Honda ending the season at the bottom of the manufacturers’ championship and 49 points behind its nearest rival Yamaha, expectations were high from HRC during the all-important end-of-season test in Spain.But while …Keep reading
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The Honda MotoGP factory team is finalising a deal with Castrol to replace Repsol from the 2025 season, Motorsport.com has learned.
Although it was an open secret for months, Repsol executives formally informed Honda of their intention not to extend their sponsorship deal – which expires at the end of this season – on the Sunday of this year’s San Marino Grand Prix.
With a brief statement sent just after the MotoGP race, the Spanish company put an end to 30 years of a relationship that began losing strength following the departure of Marc Marquez from the Japanese squad at the end of last year.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Repsol’s financial contribution to HRC was considerably reduced once the Spanish rider’s departure to Gresini was confirmed, a circumstance that was reflected in the evident loss of the oil company’s logo on the RC213V, going from occupying a central place to moving to the underside of Joan Mir and Luca Marini’s bikes.
In fact, if the Honda manufacturer’s factory squad has continued to identify itself as the Repsol Honda Team, it has been thanks to a gesture of goodwill from the Japanese brand, which, in any case, has raced with its bikes decorated mainly in the corporate colours (red, blue and white), rather than black.
The Honda/Repsol partnership began in 1995 and has since produced a total of 15 riders’ titles, 10 constructors’ titles and 183 race victories.
With the break-up now just a few months away, Motorsport.com has learned that Honda has already agreed a deal with Castrol for the British oil company to fill the gap left by Repsol from next season onwards.
Castrol is one of the main partners of the LCR team, owned by Lucio Cecchinello, which has the fuel and lubricant company as a main sponsor on the side of the garage currently occupied by Johann Zarco.
The new partnership with the factory team does not, however, jeopardise the existing one with LCR.
While the relationship between Castrol and the Tokyo-based manufacturer’s factory team will not reach title sponsor status by 2025, the relationship could go further depending on a number of factors.
The appointment of Romano Albesiano as Honda’s technical director for 2025 has a powerful symbolic charge for a company so faithful to Japanese philosophy. However, the key to the success of the Italian’s signing is no longer so much what he can contribute, but what he is allowed to do.
Last year, a number of major changes were seen at the top of HRC. However, looking at the effect they have had on the results of its two teams in the championship, it is clear that all these moves have not worked.
It was during the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix that Shinichi Kokubu, until then HRC’s general technical director, was replaced by Shin Sato, another HRC engineer. Six months later, during winter testing, it emerged that Tetsuhiro Kuwata, the general manager of the entire racing department, was to be replaced by Taichi Honda, who came from the off-road division. The fact is that off-road and MotoGP bikes are similar only in the number of wheels they have, and if the results were bad then, they have been much worse since that restructuring.
At this point last year, with 16 grand prix contested and four more to go, the accumulated haul of the four Honda riders was 189 points, with a win for Alex Rins (Austin) and two podiums as the most significant achievements. It should not be forgotten that injuries sidelined Rins for nine races and Marc Marquez for three.
At the same point in 2024, the brand’s riders’ points tally is less than half (91 points), while Johann Zarco’s ninth place in Indonesia is the highlight of the season so far. In the constructors’ table, the situation is even more painful. Honda is last on 51 points, 42 points behind Yamaha, despite having twice as many riders on the grid.
The drop in the RC213V’s performance when measured against the benchmark bikes, especially the Ducati, may help to understand why Albesiano’s appointment is such a swerve in direction.
Honda has gone backwards in 2024, leading to the latest technical management changes
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Around this time last year, Honda had the opportunity to sign Gigi Dall’Igna, the guru who has been leading Ducati for the last couple of years. The deal fell through and it was business as usual, albeit with some nuances.
The partnership with chassis specialist Kalex was strengthened, but the alliance did not come to fruition. Now the announcement of the Aprilia chief engineer’s hiring sends a message that the paddock’s strongest contender financially may have finally woken up, albeit belatedly.
For a company as jealous of its philosophy as the one in Tokyo to go looking for a new point of view, such as the one Albesiano will surely bring, is tremendously significant and denotes a willingness to change that until now was not intuited. Whether they let him work and give him enough power to influence the development of the prototype remains to be seen.
Alberto Puig, Honda’s team manager since 2018, was in charge of the operation that led to the recruitment of the Italian and carried out an exhaustive search to find the most suitable person for the position required. Having identified the target, he then passed his proposal on to HRC’s senior executives for their approval.
This signing is very flashy, but it has to be interpreted as another phase of the comeback operation that Honda has launched
«When you are looking for someone, you go by their profile, their experience and their achievements,» said Puig at Motegi this weekend. «Romano has been here for a long time. He has done great things at Aprilia and before that, he was at Cagiva. But, apart from his CV, we think his character can fit very well with the Japanese mentality.
«Aprilia has improved a lot in recent years and it is always interesting to see how our rivals have worked. This championship is becoming more and more like Formula 1, where the engineers and technicians are constantly changing,» added the Spaniard, who was finally able to close a deal that had been open for some time.
«We had been thinking about bringing in someone with his characteristics for a long time, but it’s not always the right time. At the same time, we know that one person can’t turn the tide overnight.
Securing the services of Albesiano will be a big lift to Puig in his efforts to remould Honda in the image of current benchmark Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
«Pride in competition is bad. If you lose, you have to swallow your pride and see what others do better. There are times when you have to change your philosophy, you have to adapt,» concedes Marc Marquez, Honda’s former stalwart who departed last year for a satelitte Gresini Ducati.
Honda’s poor inertia, with one win in the last three seasons, and Marquez’s decision to break his contract early, made some voices in the paddock rush to consider Puig’s cycle finished. However, Albesiano’s arrival confirms that they could not have been more wrong and that the confidence in his management of the two teams remains intact.
For Puig, this move ratifies the Japanese brand’s will to return to the place it deserves in terms of history and budget. «It is true that Romano’s role will be very important, and that in Europe he will be our point of reference and the vehicle for all our communication on a technical level,» he says.
This signing is very flashy, but it has to be interpreted as another phase of the comeback operation that Honda has launched. An operation with fewer ties to the past, and with a much broader outlook. So much so that they are looking for a new base in Europe, a racing headquarters that would allow them to speed up many protocols that are now delayed by the distance to Japan.
Can Honda find the light at the end of the tunnel in its ongoing MotoGP struggles?
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Honda has transferred its technical director Ken Kawauchi to its test team in MotoGP, Motorsport.com can reveal.
Kawauchi joined the Japanese marque’s racing division at the start of the 2023 season from Suzuki, which had pulled the plug on its MotoGP project a few months earlier.
Despite the high expectations given the success of Suzuki, which won the riders’ world championship title in 2020 with Joan Mir, the Japanese technician has not managed to change the course of Honda’s troubled MotoGP effort or close the gap to pacesetter Ducati.
Over the last year and a half, Kawauchi has acted as a link between Honda’s two workshops, the factory squad and the satellite LCR team managed by Lucio Checchinello.
But Kawauchi has switched to working within the test team, with the change already effective from the last few grands prix. The former Suzuki man’s presence inside the garage of Joan Mir and Luca Marini has most likely meant that no one noticed his change of role.
However, Honda confirmed the move to Motorsport.com on Thursday, ahead of its home race at Motegi.
“Ken Kawauchi is now focused on working with the HRC test team in a technical role where he brings the experience and information gained from his time in racing,» it said.
«As the test team grows in importance, and is set to expand to three riders by 2025, it’s crucial to have someone experienced in all aspects of development.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The technical director vacancy left by Kawauchi at the race squad has been filled by Mikihiko Kawase, who has been promoted internally from Honda’s racing department HRC, which he joined in 2012.
Honda is still in the middle of a major internal reshuffle. A year ago at Motegi, Shinichi Kokubu, who until then had been general technical director (a level above the Kawauchi role), left the MotoGP project and was replaced by Shin Sato.
Months later it was the turn of general manager Tetsuhiro Kuwata to leave his post, which is now held by Taichi Honda.
All these changes are understood to be aimed at improving the performance of the RC213V, for which the best result this season was a ninth place for Johann Zarco (LCR) last Sunday in Indonesia.
Joan Mir feels Honda’s double points finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was “real” and representative of where it should be in MotoGP at the moment.
Despite tangling with Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez on the opening lap and dropping to last place, Mir was able to mount an impressive fightback to take 11th at the chequered flag and equal Honda’s best result of 2024.
The Spaniard’s run was complemented by his HRC team-mate Luca Marini finishing 12th, while Johann Zarco also finished inside the points on his LCR-run RC213V.
Mir said what Honda achieved on MotoGP’s second visit to Misano wasn’t a fluke, especially since both he and Marini missed the opening race at the Italian venue due to illness.
“In the race I was better, I had a good pace,” he explained. “The difference between Saturday and Sunday is that we improved the vibrations a little bit. That was the big change.
“I’m happy because it was a real result, it’s not the typical 12th place because it rained and a lot of people came in to change bikes.
“At the beginning of the season, as a real result, I could have finished 12th [Portugal and Jerez] or 13th [Qatar], but 11th place this Sunday is a real result and we have to be happy.
“I overtook a lot of guys with a better package than our one.
“It is also true that some riders crashed in front. Just a couple of crashes in front as usual, but not a lot.
“I’m happy, I see some improvement on the bike during this weekend.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, Mir doesn’t want to get his hopes up after Misano, as he isn’t convinced that Honda has made a breakthrough in MotoGP yet.
“Till we don’t show it on track, I will not see any light [at the end of the tunnel],” he said.
“A lot of times I thought that they would bring something to move on from this situation and then when they didn’t bring it I was very disappointed. I don’t want to be disappointed again.
“I just stay, I give my 100%, I do my job and I go home.”
Explaining what was still lacking on the RC213V that has made Honda the worst-performing manufacturer in MotoGP, he added: “We have a lack of acceleration compared to the others and a lack of grip.
“It’s a bit of our character at the moment. But they have to be happy with it.
“In the last race I finished one minute behind [actually 50s] and it looked like it was super difficult.
“And in this race I finished 30s from the first one. That is [still] a lot but we made 27 laps. And in the first laps I lost six seconds.
“So it means that it is almost not one second per lap [of time loss]. That is actually not bad.”
Additional reporting by Gerald Dirnbeck and German Garcia Casanova
Repsol has announced that it will be ending a 30-year relationship with Honda at the end of the current MotoGP season.
The Spanish oil giant has been a sponsor of Honda since 1995, a partnership that had spawned one of the most famous liveries in the history of motorcycle racing.
Repsol had already reduced its commitment to the factory Honda team this year, prompting the Japanese manufacturer to ditch its all-orange paint scheme in favour of a hybrid livery incorporating its own corporate colours.
But following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, Repsol’s logo and orange shade will completely disappear from the RC213V, with the company having taken the decision not to renew its existing agreement with the factory.
“Repsol has decided not to renew its current sponsorship contract with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) in the MotoGP World Championship, which ends on December 31 of this year,” a statement from Repsol read.
“The Repsol Honda Team is the most successful team in terms of championship victories, with 10 team titles, 15 rider titles and 183 victories in the top category of motorcycling.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Repsol appreciates HRC’s commitment and dedication over all these years of working together.
“The multi-energy company will remain linked to motor racing, with the aim of continuing to develop products and services of the highest quality.”
The news, which was reported by Motorsport.com in May, was made official hours after the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano from which both Repsol Honda riders Luca Marini and Joan Mir were forced to withdraw due to stomach infections.
Mir didn’t take part in any session of the entire grand prix weekend, while Marini’s exit was announced only on Sunday morning after he had qualified 21st of 23 riders.
In absence of Mir and Marini, Honda was represented by LCR duo Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami, plus wildcard rider Stefan Bradl.
Repsol and Honda have enjoyed a fruitful partnership over the last three decades, with the likes of Mick Doohan, Alex Criville, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez all winning championship sporting the famous orange of the oil brand on their Honda bikes.
Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, Honda’s decline in fortunes in the last few years had already put the future of their relationship into question, with Marquez’s early exit from the team at the end of last year dealing a further blow.
Honda had also been keen on promoting its own corporate red, white and blue schemes on its two-wheel programmes.
Honda rider Joan Mir feels he ‘cannot be competitive in any area’ with the RC213V in MotoGP as his miserable run in 2024 continues.
Mir was initially upbeat about a new engine configuration that Honda debuted at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend but was left to accept the sad «reality» at the Japanese manufacturer come Sunday.
In a dry race where all riders were on the same tyres, the 2020 champion finished a distant 17th on the best of the factory Honda bikes, almost four seconds slower than Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez in the final points-paying position.
While the result itself was a major disappointment, the Spaniard was particularly dejected as he struggled in every department compared to his immediate rivals, losing time under braking, acceleration and also due to tyre wear.
The 26-year-old suggested that he is helpless with the way things are at Honda, as he cannot push himself to the maximum due to the limitations he is facing on its bike.
«[It is] difficult to have worse feelings than what I had. I cannot see any positive areas,» he said. «We have a lot of vibrations. It’s getting more and more and on tracks like this one, [it has] probably has been the worst one.
«I cannot see a specific area where I can be competitive. That’s the reality. It was a challenge to stay on the bike.
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
«On braking in straights, I was locking the bike, I was locking the front a lot. That was limiting me from braking later.
«But then just before opening the throttle, my bike was spinning and then you open the throttle and just ‘float’ — you have a constant floating feeling like you cannot control [the bike].
«Then the drop of the tyre is bigger than the others and you overheat the tyres more than the others, so you cannot control [the bike].
«Also, [at] the beginning of the race I was going with the group, I had to slow down because my front [tyre] pressure was to the moon — not really able to push, that’s the reality.»
Honda was one of the three manufacturers along with Yamaha and KTM to complete two private days of running at Misano this week, with Mir allowed to put in some laps behind the RC213V due to the concessions the Tokyo-based manufacturer has received under the regulations.
The test precedes a run of five MotoGP rounds in six weekends between late August and early October, which also includes a Dorna-organised track day between the two Misano weekends.
Mir stressed that the extra track time will be important for Honda in trying out new updates and designing the next version of the bike for 2025.
«We have now quite a busy schedule, we have to try, we have to test in Misano on Wednesday, one day then in Aragon, we will try more things, then Misano race and Misano [official] test again,» he said.
«We will try more things, different engine configurations. We will try something to help on the grip and some big things that can help us to understand what the direction is for next year to let them [Honda] work and let them have a bit more time to bring one thing that works.»
Apart from Mir, Honda has also been tapping into the experience of LCR recruit Johann Zarco, who spent the last four seasons riding Ducati machinery, to come out of the doldrums in MotoGP.
Asked what approach Honda should take in the coming months, Zarco said it’s imperative for the fallen Japanese giant to have a strong baseline for the RC213V before it starts throwing new parts on the bike.
«Ducati has been trying a lot of things in the past but now for three years everything works,» he said. «It seems like they bring parts but they have a base that works so well.
«So when you have a base you can bring everything [and] everything is working. The weak point of the Honda now is the base and as soon as we don’t create a real base, you can try everything on the wrong base and it will be wrong.
«They are trying a lot of things, maybe less visible than what Ducati or KTM are doing, the European brands are doing, but they are never stopping. When you see from close it’s quite impressive all the work which is done.»
Additional reporting by German Garcia Casanova and Lorenza D’Adderio
Honda has introduced a new engine configuration for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, but the riders have warned that it won’t bring an immediate step in performance.
The Japanese manufacturer has been hard at work to dig itself out of its lowest-ever phase in MotoGP, with a number of updates planned in the coming races in Europe.
The first significant upgrade is a new engine specification that LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and HRC duo Luca Marini and Joan Mir are trialling at Spielberg, possibly with some variations between them.
Johann Zarco, who has previously gone for a different approach with a motor that is more powerful but harder to ride, will remain on the same bike that he raced with at Silverstone to gather more data.
From the outside, the new package is a welcome boost for HRC as it has been much slower in bringing in new components than Yamaha, another manufacturer that has been given extensive freedom to develop the bike in the middle of the season as part of MotoGP’s new concession system.
But Marini doesn’t think there is much speed to gain from the improved engine, even as he praised HRC for bringing in updates to the track for the second half of the campaign.
“’New engine’ is a big, big word, I will say [it is] a little upgrade,” he said.
“Because in terms of performance we saw after the Silverstone race, Taka’s performance [with a different spec] looks a little bit better but still not the same as the other engines [and] is a little bit more difficult to ride.
“We are getting closer to the other engine, but still not enough.
Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“But I will say good job that they made this upgrade. It’s part of the process. It is important to keep pushing, keep working, even small upgrades are something good. I’m just happy for this.
“We will see but it will not change our performance on track.”
Marini’s team-mate Mir was more optimistic about the ultimate potential of the upgraded engine, but also suggested that it wouldn’t immediately transform Honda’s fortunes in MotoGP.
“This weekend we have a different engine configuration, this is something great,” he said. “It’s a quite neat, fresh configuration.
‘It will not be a configuration that you put on track and straight away it is fast.
“So it’s something that will [require] some time to understand, some time to put the electronics side correctly, maybe the set-up.
“It will be a bit of work behind but it’s nice to have some new big things to try to understand if it’s the [right] direction or not, if it’s better, with more top speed or not, we have to see.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Honda’s stable of four riders have opted for different engine configurations in the past, with there being some disagreement over what the best way forward is for the marque.
Mir hopes that the engine upgrade a number of Honda riders will be running on their RC213Vs this weekend will give a definitive answer as to what direction to take going forward.
“It’s not an engine that I didn’t try before, it’s a configuration I didn’t try before. The engine is not new, it’s the configuration,” he clarified.
“It makes sense after all the struggle we have been through, especially at the beginning of the season.
“We realised the direction in that area was not the right one and we came back so it’s a little bit the direction we wanted to do when we came back. Those two steps that we want to do.
“We don’t expect two steps. it’s just to understand if it’s the direction we have to continue, that we will use.”
Additional reporting by Lorenza D’Adderio and Gerald Dirnbeck
Joan Mir will stay with Honda’s factory team until the 2026 MotoGP season after signing a new two-year deal, HRC has announced.
Despite two miserable seasons on the RC213V that prompted Mir to consider an early retirement, the Spaniard has been clear for some time that he would like to extend his tenure with Honda.
Last month, Motorsport.com revealed that Mir and Honda have verbally agreed terms of their new contract, with only some formalities to be completed before the deal is signed.
With the signature now received, Honda finally announced on Friday that Mir would continue to lead its MotoGP programme until the end of the current rules cycle.
The 2020 champion is currently Honda’s top runner in the riders’ standings in 18th place, having scored 13 points to 12 of LCR recruit Johann Zarco.
«First of all, I am very happy to be able to compete with Honda and HRC for the next two years,” said the Spaniard.
It was my goal to continue this partnership, and this time I have been able to achieve it. HRC and I have been in partnership since 2023, and as we continue to do so, I believe that by continuing to input my opinions to HRC, I can contribute to improving the RC213V.
“I know what I need to do and I know what Honda can achieve, so I hope that we can both achieve it. We will continue to work hard for the future for the remainder of this season.»
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Honda is going through a nightmare campaign in MotoGP, with none of its four riders breaking inside the top 10 in a race in the opening half of the season.
The Japanese manufacturer sits dead last in the championship table heading into next weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone after scoring half as many points as its nearest rival Yamaha.
However, HRC is pleased with the role Mir has played in the development of the RC213V and the Spaniard is now seen as a key player inside the factory after the departure of six-time champion Marc Marquez.
The news of Mir’s contract extension means Honda will head into 2025 with an unchanged line-up, with team-mate Luca Marini already having a deal for next season.
Mir and Marini will be supported by test riders Stefan Bradl and Aleix Espargaro, the latter joining from Aprilia next year after retiring from active competition.
«I am very happy to be able to compete in MotoGP with Joan Mir for two years from 2025,” said HRC president Koji Watanabe.
“This has been a tough season for Honda and HRC, unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Even in these circumstances, Mir has trusted the team, and we are very grateful for his attitude of never giving up and fighting at any time.
“We, along with Mir, would like to work together with all the stakeholders to make a comeback and do our best to meet the expectations of our fans as soon as possible. Once again, thank you to all the fans who always support us. We look forward to your continued support.»