It’s easy to forget, but there are actually only 6 manufacturers that make up the MotoGP field. There’s the Italian brands of Ducati and Aprilia; KTM, who hail from Austria; and the Japanese companies of Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda. This number has ebbed and flowed over the course of MotoGP history, and while there are often questions about whether we will see more in the future – Kawazaki is a name that comes up quite a bit, though they have stated they have no intent of making a MotoGP return – these six seem to be sticking around for the foreseeable future.
The main reason we’re unlikely to see any of them leave any time soon is that the current MotoGP field is arguably the closest we’ve ever seen. All six manufacturers are competitive, the gap between satellite teams and their factory counterparts has shrunk dramatically, and the overwhelming talent of the young riders being promoted from the supporting classes means the overall skill level of the class has grown much tighter and more competitive. It’s a wild time to be a MotoGP fan. On any given weekend, any number of around 10 to 12 riders could theoretically challenge for the race win.
Flash back to the start of the 2010s. Hondas and Yamahas reigned supreme as the top bikes to be on, with the likes of Ducati and Suzuki still finding their feet somewhat. There were four seats in the entire grid that everyone wanted, being the factory positions in the Repsol Honda and Fiat Yamaha (the factory Yamaha team has changed title sponsors a number of times in the last decade). While some riders could challenge on other bikes – Casey Stoner on board a Ducati comes to mind – the vast majority of race wins and podiums were spread between these two heavyweight teams.
There is an argument that at least part of these results came down to the riders on board the bikes. Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner all rode in the premier class around the same time, and all four have gone down in history as some of the all-time greats. Seemingly regardless of what machinery they were placed on, the four of them could wildly out-perform pretty much anyone else in the field, and it took the likes of Marc Marquez to dethrone some of the long-standing records the four of them set. Still, it has to be said that the competitiveness of their machines was at least partly a factor in the results that came from that era.
The point I’m trying to get across here is that Honda have an incredible history of making powerful racing bikes and putting the best riders on top of them. The list of premier class championships Honda have taken is astonishing to look through, and the list of riders who have won for them almost jaw-dropping. When you think of Honda in MotoGP, you think Doohan, Rossi, Pedrosa, Stoner and Hayden. You think of multiple-times champions, and dominant performances. More recently, you think of Marc Marquez, and of his crushing title victories between 2013 and 2019.
So to say their current form is a disappointment is quite the understatement. Honda currently sit fifth in the constructor’s championship, and the Repsol squad falls into the same position on the team’s standings. They have yet to take a podium in 2021, and a best result of fourth came from Nakagami on the satellite team. The riders complain about the bike in interviews, saying they have to fight it just to make it work for them. There’s a lack of confidence amongst the four of them, and it genuinely appears that they’re struggling to keep pace with the other manufacturers.
Obviously there’s a lot of factors at play. The first big problem is that they spent the last few years designing a bike to the needs and specifications of their star rider Marc Marquez, who then missed the entire 2020 campaign due to the injuries he sustained in the opening round of the season. When you bank most of the design on a single rider, losing said rider can be catastrophic to your results as the other riders struggle to maintain the same results.
Riders have been complaining about the difficulty of riding Honda’s MotoGP machine for years now. Spearheaded by veteran Cal Crutchlow from around 2018 onwards, the Brit was consistently hammering the executives during press conferences and interviews. While the results of the other riders at the time were fine, the timing of Dani Pedrosa’s decline in form and Marc Marquez’s insistence on better horsepower to combat Dovizioso and the Ducatis left more than a few eyebrows raised.
Usually these sorts of claims are inconsistent, but the race and test in Jerez have finally confirmed the fears of many Honda fans. Pol Espargaro was vocal about the issues within HRC, stating that it was unacceptable that the four riders could be riding what were essentially three different motorcycles. How was he supposed to know what to test on Monday when he didn’t have a single other rider’s data to compare to?
Honda’s team boss, Alberto Puig, also confirmed that the manufacturer has work to do in the coming weeks. A man who usually denies all rumours and negative press regarding his team and their bike, Puig finally admitted to the press that Honda aren’t in a good place right now, citing the different machinery spread between the riders and the ongoing injury recovery of the elder Marquez brother. It’s a sign of the significance of their problems that even the head honcho is publicly admitting that they’re on the back foot.
What’s important to remember is that modern MotoGP is a sport of inches and milliseconds. Sure, Honda currently sit fifth in the constructor’s championship, but a couple of strong results would likely shuffle them back up the order and into contention. They also have four individually talented riders under their employment, and once they do figure out their technical and design issues they can rest easy that their riders will produce the results they need. The only real question is how long it will take to restore the unity and competitiveness that they held not so long ago.
Given how tight the competition is right now, it’s unlikely we will ever see a return to the crushing and dominant form we once knew and expected of Repsol Honda, but it’s not unrealistic to expect that they will bounce back to being one of the top teams in the sport. They still have an eight times champion in their employment, and they still have a bike that can at least score points on any given day. For now at least, they may have to simply be content with their position on the ladder, and work on the recovery of their bike as well as their star rider.
Solomon Talks Bikes 