Repsol Honda MotoGP Team Manager Alberto Puig says he is “very grateful to the efforts” of Repsol after the announcement of its split from Honda.
Spanish oil company Repsol will end its title sponsorship of Honda Racing Corporation at the end of the season after a three-decade alliance.
Repsol’s support of Honda’s MotoGP endeavours has been successful year after year, as the team earned championships from the sport’s biggest names, Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.
Together, the partnership achieved 15 World Championships, 10 Team World Championships, 183 premier-class wins and 455 premier-class podiums.
However, the oil company has decided to end the partnership with the team, which is currently 11th and last in the team’s standings.
Puig reflected on the 30-year collaboration, saying that Repsol and Honda “did a fantastic job” together.
“I think that both companies did a fantastic job,” team manager Puig said.
“This alliance was great for 30 years, with many titles, clear dominance in the sport for many years.
“They developed a very good product for Honda bikes, and Honda produced very good bikes for Repsol to show its potential.
“It was a very good alliance but, like everything in life, sometimes it comes to an end.”
Despite the split from their long-time sponsor, Puig insisted that there was still a lot of respect between the two companies.
“There is a lot of respect from each company for each company and both companies are very grateful for the effort that each other made in this long journey.
“So from the Honda point of view, we are happy about this and we can say thank you.
“We are sure that all the victories and titles that we won together will remain in the time and history of motorsport.”
Honda has yet to reveal its new main sponsor from 2025, but one of the sport’s most synonymous partnerships will end in one month time.
What next for Puig and Honda?
It’s clear that Honda has a lot of work to do to catch up to its MotoGP rivals, and big changes have already been made behind the scenes.
Romano Albesiano will join the team from Aprilia in 2025 as the new Technical Director of its MotoGP development programme and is the first high-profile European engineer to join the Japanese team.
Aleix Espargaro will bring his experience and join Honda as a test rider after announcing his retirement from full-time racing at the end of 2024.
However, it is anticipated that further changes could be made, including a potential exit for Puig.
According to the Spanish podcast Mister Helmet, there is a chance that the factory Honda team boss could join Repsol in departing the team.
There is no official confirmation of Puig’s plans just yet, but he could be replaced by KTM’s Francesco Guidotti for next campaign.
