LCR Honda removed the covers from its 2023 MotoGP campaign in an online launch on Tuesday morning, with Alex Rins and Takaaki Nakagami running largely unchanged liveries on their machines.
As is usual for the Italian operation it elected to host a separate unveiling for each of its entries in respect to its partners, with Rins’ side of the garage sporting continued support from lubricants giant Castrol and Italian clothing brand Givi, while Nakagami once again runs in the red and white of Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu.
The 2023 season will be Rins’ first in the now-traditional multi-coloured Givi/Castrol scheme having competed with Suzuki since his premier class bow back in 2017 until the manufacturer pulled out at the end of last year – marking this term the first time the Spaniard will not be at the controls of a GSX-RR since the start of his MotoGP career.
While the rider of the Castrol-backed entry is different – with old pilot Alex Marquez having moved into new pastures with the Gresini Ducati team – the livery remains much the same, with the only visible difference being a slight reduction of the amount of red adorning the side of the RC213-V in favour of more white.
Nakagami meanwhile will embark on his sixth premier class campaign with the LCR team since stepping up with the organisation from Moto2 for the ’18 season, the Japanese ace keen to finally capture the maiden podium finish he has relished since his debut into the big leagues – his best result to date of fourth being achieved on three occasions.
The two-time Moto2 racer winner’s scheme looks pretty much identical to the one he ran to 18th in the riders standings in ’22, with the customary red and white joined by a solid space of black on the front of the motorcycle.
LCR will be looking to lift itself higher than the tenth position it finished in the teams championship last season, while it will also be gunning to banish its now extensive podium drought which leads all the way back to the 2019 Australian Grand Prix – in which Cal Crutchlow guided his Honda to second behind the factory RC213-V of Marc Marquez.
