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Honda ended the championship last in its class, even in 2023, disappointing the expectations of its fans, its riders, and its own management that, after a terrible 2022, hoped for a comeback, or at least to recuperate. Instead, the RC213V once again proved to be uncompetitive and managed to get in front of the rest of the group only in Austin with Alex Rins and the LCR team.
They brought home 185 points, which resulted in Marc Marquez’s opting to move to Ducati Gresini Racing for 2024, and the relative surprise of the winner of the Texan round leaving for the official Yamaha. The only positive note – which seems more like a sign of esteem, despite the critical issues of the moment – is the arrival of Luca Marini’s Mooney VR46 team which, next year, will be riding the HRC that used to be the eight-time champion’s.
In light of this situation, the director of the Japanese team, Tetsuhiro Kuwata, revealed that he hasn’t yet stomached the decline in performance of the team. “The lack of wins is difficult to accept,” he confided during the fifth episode of the second season of the documentary, “Behind the Dream”. “It completely changes your mentality. I personally don’t like the situation we’re in because I hate losing.”
Kuwata’s fear is that the product will also suffer from the debacle in the races. “We want to improve people’s lives and give clients a motorcycle with which to have fun. There are those who want a sporty one, those who want something less challenging. In any case, it’s important that message that our brand is able to turn dreams into reality is passed on.”
To show how much everyone in the factory is working to recuperate, the director gave an example from his past. “My father worked night and day and was happy. I hated his lifestyle, but now I’m behaving like him, and my children are asking me why.”
But being at the head of a racing team isn’t just a job. It’s something that goes far beyond and gives rise to passion, as Kuwata himself explained. “The love for engines was conveyed to me by the cartoons I saw as a child. I first started in races with the F3, but my desire was the F1. I wanted to build the most competitive engine in the world along with Honda. It was a great goal. And, today, as a brand, we’re facing a challenge for the future. If you think you can do it, if you get busy ,and show people that you can achieve what you set out to do, it certainly helps in reaching a goal.”
