English
Italiano
In 2024 Honda propped up the table of MotoGP manufacturers with its best rider, Johann Zarco in 17th position with the LCR team's RC213-V with just 55 points, a full 453 from the leader, Jorge Martin and an 8th place finish as the best position in Buriram, Thailand.
Worse than him did his teammate, Nakagami 19th and officials Mir, and Marini, 21st and 22nd, with test rider Stefan Bradl, the last to score points, 25th.
A season definitely way below the worst expectations for HRC, perhaps the slowest of the Japanese manufacturers to catch up with the evolution of the category, especially from an aerodynamic point of view. And just think that the first experiments in this field were made in the days of team leader Shuhei Nakamoto, at Suzuka. An early advance that was rejected by the then test riders with the justification that with aerodynamic appendages the bike was too physically demanding to ride.
At the end of 2024, however, there was a turning point with the hiring of the first non-Japanese technical manager that history remembers, Romano Albesiano, wrested from Aprilia with what was said to be a 'remarkable' hire. This was followed (or anticipated) by the hiring of Aleix Espargarò as test rider, who will be joined by Takahaki Nakagami and Stefan Bradl, in a different role from the recent past.
A quick look at the prototype fielded at Sepang shows, at present, that Honda has fully espoused the idea of a 'ground effect' MotoGP bike with a fairing extensively shaped to provide grip at maximum lean angle, but also a sophisticated tail with twin wing and fins, called upon to minimize the bike's lack of mechanical grip that all its riders are complaining about.
