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Lucio Cecchinello's Castrol Honda LCR team achieved HRC's best result at the MotoGP season opener in Buriram, with Johann Zarco finishing 7th, while rookie Somkiat Chantra finished 18th. The Honda HRC factory team lost Joan Mir in a fall, while his teammate, Luca Marini, didn't go beyond a 12th place. Zarco arrived just 15.225 behind the winner, Marc Márquez, after 26 laps, and Marini got 40.01 seconds.
Lucio, what expectations did you have going into the first Grand Prix of 2025 after the tests?
"We knew that the bike had improved a bit compared to the last version of 2024. We were able to score a few points at the end of the championship last year, mostly in the range of 10th, 11th or 12th place. Sometimes, we even made it straight into the Q2. That's why we had legitimate hopes of top ten results for 2025. But I didn't expect too much before the start, because Ducati is still very strong. The same goes for Aprilia, and Acosta on the KTM showed a lot of potential in the tests even with the financial problems the Austrians had. The racing department did an excellent job despite the insolvency proceedings, because the Austrian motorcycle is still giving us a headache. So, we're happy with a seventh place in Thailand, but we have to be realistic. Acosta fell, Rául Fernández didn't finish. Joan Mir also fell, and Martin wasn't there. Iìd say that, under normal circumstances, we can fight for the top ten places. That means we've improved compared to 2024."
In what areas does the RC213V still need to improve? Joan Mir was disappointed in seeing that the engine's performance hadn't changed compared to last year.
"Honda has improved the rideability of the engine, meaning the power delivery. That's definitely clear. The 2025 engine has improved in power delivery, which particularly impacts acceleration after corners. All riders like this engine, but we still need to find even more peak power to get closer to the competition. However, we mustn't compromise the smooth power delivery in this search for horsepower. That's a very difficult task for the engineers. We need to work on a solution in the electronics area. We also need to find a compromise so that the additional power doesn't cause tire wear. We need more top speed on the long straights because, in terms of top speed, we're only in the second half of standings."
Two years after parting ways with Technical Director Takeo Yokoyama, Honda has a new technical director, namely, the Italian, Romano Albesiano, from Aprilia. The Japanese Ken Kawauchi was relegated to the test team. Does speaking the same language as Albesiano help you?
"Yes, we're in contact because he's very proactive. He's been visiting our garage every day since the beginning of the Sepang test. Of course, Albesiano has his office in HRC, but he comes to the LCR garage regularly, especially after the sessions, where he communicates primarily with our technical director, Christophe Bourguignon, and with the crew chiefs, Klaus Nöhles for Chantra and David Garcia for Zarco."
Albesiano was always considered a clever aerodynamicist. That had been a weak point for HRC for years. The two Italian manufacturers were always copied. Has Honda caught up in this area?
"Today, aerodynamics definitely play an important role in the stability and dynamics of a racing motorcycle. And, if an engineer has aerodynamics know-how, that's very helpful. Improving aerodynamics is clearly one of Honda's goals, since this will also enable us to achieve advantages in terms of top speed."
The glorious Honda factory team hasn't won a MotoGP race since Marc Márquez's victory at the Emilia Romagna GP in Misano on October 24th, 2021. The Honda HRC Castrol team with Joan Mir and Luca Marini also suffered a setback at the start of the season in Buriram. Only four points were secured by Marini's 12th place. In the Team World Championship, the racing team, which won six of the seven World Championship titles with Márquez from 2013 to 2019, is only holding the 10th and second to last position.
Since the start of the 2020 season, the Honda RC213V has only been able to keep up with the competition in exceptional cases, which is why Marc Márquez switched to the Gresini Ducati team after the 2023 season and after agreeing with HRC to terminate his contract for 2024. Thanks to the considerable "concessions", the Yamaha and Honda factories were able to make noticeable progress against the competition since last season. But Luca Marini lost no less than 40 seconds to the winner in 26 laps of racing in Buriram on Sunday. And Joan Mir, still MotoGP World Champion on the Ecstar Suzuki in 2020, only achieved the sobering World Championship positions of 22nd and 21st with HRC 2023 and 2024. At least Joan Mir managed an 11th best qualifying time in Thailand, but his deficit of 0.640 seconds didn't trigger any applause in the garage of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer, because Honda used to promote the confident slogan "Honda enters, Honda wins".
LCR Honda's team owner, Lucio Cecchinello, was happy at the start of the season with his protégé Johann Zarco's 7th place and certain progress on the RC213V, especially with the engine in terms of power delivery and rideability. For years, Honda riders complained about the lack of trust in the front tire and the lack of feedback at the limit, which led to numerous falls, also for Marc Márquez. Furthermore, Honda riders weren't able to use the full potential of the soft Michelin tires for qualifying, which very often resulted in pretty poor grid positions. At one point, a total of six frames from the German company, KALEX Engineering, were even used in 2023 by HRC and LCR because the Japanese engineers were apparently at their wits' end.
"Since around September 2024, riders have reported that their sensations with the front tire have improved," Lucio Cecchinello said. "This is due to evolutions in aerodynamics and also in the chassis departement. Johann Zarco is now very happy with the sensation on the front, as is our rookie, Chantra."
Why hasn't Joan Mir benefited from these improvements so far?
"I see that Joan Mir is exceptionally strong in braking. It's very, very difficult to overtake him when braking and, if you get the most out of braking, then falls by losing the front can happen. But I can't judge that reliably, because I can't see the data."
Is Zarco's knowledge of three rival brands particularly valuable for the new technical director, Romano Albesiano?
"Romano said from the start that he wanted to hear the opinion of riders so that he could get as much information as possible for the development of the motorcycles. Of course, every rider has his own way of communicating. I've worked with many riders and can say that Johann is a very sensitive rider. Romano likes to listen to what Johann says. But I can't judge whether Johann's statements are more valuable to Romano than the comments of other riders beecause we never discussed it."
