As the 2025 MotoGP season approaches, a new era is dawning for Honda, who enter the year with a new label and a new development program.
2025 marks an entrance into unknown territory for Honda, who will start the new season with a new title sponsor after parting ways with Repsol, in a split likely caused by five years of stagnancy within the Japanese manufacturer.
The Honda team has only won two races since the turn of the decade, both at the hands of Marc Marquez in 2021. For the most prominent factory team in the sport, the level of performance has not been good enough and 2024 may have been the worst campaign of them all.
In a challenging season, Joan Mir and Luca Marini combined earned less than 100 points last year for the team as the 21 race weekends consisted of poor performances from the RC213V and heavy crashes when the riders found the limit.
There has been a clear dissatisfaction at the team’s situation, with 2020 world champion Mir growing increasingly unsettled and suggesting the concessions have not helped Honda gain on its rivals. However, as the Asaka factory has made key changes to its engineering department, there is a chance that things could be getting better a lot sooner than anticipated.
READ MORE – Joan Mir: Honda didn’t gain any ‘advantage’ from MotoGP concessions system
Honda riders hold contrasting opinions over manufacturer’s progress
The 2024 season saw Honda record its lowest ever points tally in grand prix history, with Marini and Mir earning just 75 points between them.
Frustration was evident from both riders, but especially from former champion Mir, who believes there has been no short term gains from the new concessions system introduced by the championship.
In contrast to his teammate’s claims, Marini believes Honda has made some good progress in 2024 and that next year he will perform better as he adapts to the new machine.
“As a rider I will be next year stronger on the Honda,” Marini said via Crash.net.
“I think that during this season they made a huge step. Since the day that I came to this factory I saw many changes and next year even more changes will happen.
“So, it just gives me positive vibes. Let’s see how the new guys, how the new engineers will work and for sure everybody wants to bring Honda back to the top.”
Will Honda’s redevelopment project make the difference?
One of the big changes Honda has made as it attempts to recover from its five years of struggles is the hiring of Romano Albesiano as its new technical director, which marks the first time a European engineer has been the head of the company’s MotoGP project.
The boss of Honda’s satellite team Lucio Cecchinello is a big admirer of Albesiano’s work and said he was unsurprised by the decision to appoint him as leader of the redevelopment project.
“I wasn’t surprised, I had already heard within Honda about the need to use additional European figures to strengthen what was the RCV project,” Cecchinello told GPOne about Albesiano’s appointment.
“What happened, and I think it’s a positive aspect, is that new managers have come in who have a more open mindset to the rest of the world. Not everything necessarily has to be done in Japan because we need to have our industries working and take pride in our technology.”
Albesiano joins the Japanese squad after 11 years with Aprilia, a manufacturer which he helped develop from a backmarker to a regular podium contender. The Italian’s work will be tried out by Honda’s new test team which includes Aleix Espargaro who worked with him for the majority of his time in Noale.
“Regarding his move to Honda, I think it has been very intelligent to sign him as the Italian engineers, the European factories, are improving a lot,” said Espargaro to MotoGP.com.
“So, it’s a really big help for Honda and the Japanese engineers – with his ideas, what he has done with the RS-GP has been remarkable.
“I’m happy also for Romano. To go to the biggest factory with such an incredible history in the championship has a main technical director is such a privilege.”
