Deep Dive - Part 1: Honda In Freefall
Week in, week out, we see that infamous tangerine and blue livery struggling at the back of the grid, only managing to pick up the odd point due to tire pressure penalties or just pure luck. Once an unstoppable force and a brand synonymous with MotoGP, Honda is now a symbol of early retirement, injuries, and a questionable choice for any rider who joins them. Honda has a history of having the biggest names in MotoGP history: Rossi, Biaggi, Dovi, Marquez, Pedrosa, and Hayden. Imagine if, in the Rossi era of Repsol Honda, someone had said that in 2024 Honda would have 36 points split between 4 riders halfway through the season; you would have thought they were mentally ill.
In 2019, after we saw Marquez’s horrific injury, it really highlighted the manufacturer’s reliance on the Spaniard to actually compete in the race. Even prior to Marc’s injury, back in 2018, we saw a dominant season from the one Honda, with Cal Crutchlow coming in 7th in the championship and Dani Pedrosa in 11th, both with less than half the number of points as Marquez. The warning signs were definitely there; however, it seems they were just completely ignored, and the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ was taken all too literally. Whilst Marquez was dominating year in, year out, and the Honda garage was going through more prosecco than a group of middle-aged divorcees at a bottomless brunch, the European manufacturers were making huge strides in developing their bikes, adding aero, holeshot devices and more.
The RC213V has not been able to keep up at all over the past few seasons, seeming to actually get worse, with lap times now closer to the Moto2 riders than the top 10. It begs the question: why and how do they still attract riders? A question I believe the answer to is fairly simple: for young riders like Marini, I think the prospect and excitement of being on a factory bike (and the paycheck that comes with it) are more important than your reputation and performance. Whilst for Joan Mir, unfortunately with Suzuki departing the grid left both him and Rins with little option but to join their fellow Japanese manufacturers. I have a lot of sympathy for Joan Mir, as both he and Rins did not particularly underperform, they weren’t too slow, and they were innocent collateral damage from Suzuki’s decision to leave MotoGP.
The Coronavirus pandemic also played a huge part in the demise of Honda, with the factories in Japan forced to shut up shop for an extended period of time, which meant that a lot of development was completely halted, and even when other countries were back to work, Japan had a prolonged period of restrictions. This is possibly a reason for its 21/22 results; however, they just seem to be in freefall since then. Out of the bikes on the grid, they (Honda) have been fairly slow to implement changes, especially when compared to their Italian rivals at Ducati, who are always at the cutting edge of advancements in MotoGP, it almost seems like they are letting the other teams take the risk before they invest in any changes.
It’s clear they lack any direction or plan as to how to raise the RC213V to the level of its competitors. We recently heard Joan Mir come out after Sachsenring saying, “I was very angry. I’m still very angry with the situation. But let’s see if tomorrow they can give me a package that I’m able to enjoy a bit.”, only confirming the rumours that Mir is not happy or hopeful of his time at Honda. It’s hard to believe that any rider is happy on any of the Honda bikes. However, there has been one positive development in the garage with the introduction of Aleix Espargaro as a test rider, which, given the impact he had at Aprilia, gives a good level of optimism about the future. I think Stefan Bradl has had a good run, but they need a fresh pair of eyes now, and parting ways with him is a smart move.
In the deep dive, part 2, we will look more at what Honda is doing to get back, further potential setbacks due to Repsol pulling out of being the main sponsor, and a potential saving grace in the form of rule changes.
In 2019, after we saw Marquez’s horrific injury, it really highlighted the manufacturer’s reliance on the Spaniard to actually compete in the race. Even prior to Marc’s injury, back in 2018, we saw a dominant season from the one Honda, with Cal Crutchlow coming in 7th in the championship and Dani Pedrosa in 11th, both with less than half the number of points as Marquez. The warning signs were definitely there; however, it seems they were just completely ignored, and the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ was taken all too literally. Whilst Marquez was dominating year in, year out, and the Honda garage was going through more prosecco than a group of middle-aged divorcees at a bottomless brunch, the European manufacturers were making huge strides in developing their bikes, adding aero, holeshot devices and more.
The RC213V has not been able to keep up at all over the past few seasons, seeming to actually get worse, with lap times now closer to the Moto2 riders than the top 10. It begs the question: why and how do they still attract riders? A question I believe the answer to is fairly simple: for young riders like Marini, I think the prospect and excitement of being on a factory bike (and the paycheck that comes with it) are more important than your reputation and performance. Whilst for Joan Mir, unfortunately with Suzuki departing the grid left both him and Rins with little option but to join their fellow Japanese manufacturers. I have a lot of sympathy for Joan Mir, as both he and Rins did not particularly underperform, they weren’t too slow, and they were innocent collateral damage from Suzuki’s decision to leave MotoGP.
The Coronavirus pandemic also played a huge part in the demise of Honda, with the factories in Japan forced to shut up shop for an extended period of time, which meant that a lot of development was completely halted, and even when other countries were back to work, Japan had a prolonged period of restrictions. This is possibly a reason for its 21/22 results; however, they just seem to be in freefall since then. Out of the bikes on the grid, they (Honda) have been fairly slow to implement changes, especially when compared to their Italian rivals at Ducati, who are always at the cutting edge of advancements in MotoGP, it almost seems like they are letting the other teams take the risk before they invest in any changes.
It’s clear they lack any direction or plan as to how to raise the RC213V to the level of its competitors. We recently heard Joan Mir come out after Sachsenring saying, “I was very angry. I’m still very angry with the situation. But let’s see if tomorrow they can give me a package that I’m able to enjoy a bit.”, only confirming the rumours that Mir is not happy or hopeful of his time at Honda. It’s hard to believe that any rider is happy on any of the Honda bikes. However, there has been one positive development in the garage with the introduction of Aleix Espargaro as a test rider, which, given the impact he had at Aprilia, gives a good level of optimism about the future. I think Stefan Bradl has had a good run, but they need a fresh pair of eyes now, and parting ways with him is a smart move.
In the deep dive, part 2, we will look more at what Honda is doing to get back, further potential setbacks due to Repsol pulling out of being the main sponsor, and a potential saving grace in the form of rule changes.