2024 vs 2025 – A look at Honda HRC’s Progress

The 2025 MotoGP World Championship season has been one of great progress for Honda HRC, earning a total of 285 points in the Constructors Championship (210 more than in 2024) and graduating to C Concessions thanks to one win, three further podium finishes and solid consistency. From scoring just two top ten finishes in 2024 to regularly challenging for the top five in 2025, the Honda RC213V has made impressive progress in just 12 months.

When comparing Grands Prix which took place in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the average distance from the winner to the top Honda RC213V on Sunday has been cut from an average of 30 seconds to just 13.5 seconds – more than halving the deficit to the front. With an average finish between sixth and seventh position across the 22 Grands Prix of the 2025 season, the growth is the culmination of several seasons of efforts and an ever-expanding MotoGP project. The performance of Honda’s three returning riders also exemplified the progress; Johann Zarco finished 12th overall with 148 points, 93 more than his 2024 total, Luca Marini just one spot behind in the standings and improving on his season points haul tenfold with Joan Mir taking a total of 85 more points across the year and claiming his first two Honda podiums.

In recent years, MotoGP Technical Manager Mikihiko Kawase has been working diligently alongside engineers and staff in Japan and Europe to help return Honda to the front. Having joined Honda Racing Corporation in 2012 after a youth spent racing, he came to the MotoGP World Championship with the Moto3 project before being moved to the MotoGP Project. Serving as the MotoGP Technical Manager since 2024, Kawase-san has been deeply involved in the project for a number of seasons.

Q: Could you please share a little about your role in the MotoGP operation?

Kawase: “Since 2024 I have been the MotoGP Technical Manager, it is my duty to coordinate the efforts of all the teams and engineers at the track, listen to the feedback of riders and check all of the data. From all of this information at the circuit, we work to understand the direction and coordinate with the development team on the areas to work on. With the arrival of Romano Albesiano as Technical Director, we are working closely together to best manage the work during a race weekend and on the development side to help return Honda back to the top.”

Q: Are you satisfied with 2025?

Kawase: “2025 has been a very good season, Honda’s best since 2019 in terms of Constructor points. Of course, we have to take satisfaction from this especially after several very hard seasons. But finally, Honda HRC is in MotoGP to fight for victory so we must keep working and pushing until we return to consistently fighting at the front of races and battling for the World Championship.”

Q: The average gap to the front has decreased from 30 seconds to just 13.5 seconds when we look at circuits from both the 2024 and 2025 calendars, what has been the biggest factor to achieving this?

Kawase: “For the past few seasons we were trying many, many things on the bike from the aero side, the chassis side, the engine side. Working a lot to understand where our limitations were. From the second half of 2024, we achieved quite a good aerodynamics package and were able to find a sort of base bike to make next steps with. In 2025 we have continued to work with the aero, chassis and electronics but one of the biggest steps has come from the engine. We worked not only on top end speed, but also on the power delivery – to make it more rideable. As a factory, we are always increasing our knowledge and improving our working methods. Each year the entire group becomes better, and I have to thank all of the engineers at the track, in Japan and in Italy for their efforts in making 2025 a reality. I also must acknowledge all of our riders, who have each done a big effort from their side to continue to improve their performance and working diligently to collect the data we need and try many different items during race weekends.”

Q: Now Honda moves from D to C Concessions, what does this mean for the future?

Kawase: “It is the logical next step on our return to the top, something we must do. Of course there are some limitations with reduced tyres for testing, no time with the Grand Prix riders and more limitations with engine development. The Test Team, boosted by the addition of Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro, have done a great job this season and their role will be even more critical in 2026 as we have even less room for doubt when it comes to bringing new parts to a race weekend. Inside HRC, we believe that the allocation of development resources between the ’26 and ’27 models will become clearer quickly, allowing for better project management and more efficient development.”

Q: What are the objectives for 2026?

Kawase: “Our objective is to continue fighting consistently for the top five as we did at the end of last year. To keep making improvements and fight for the podium when it is there. MotoGP is always moving forward; everyone is always getting faster so we must continue to work to our maximum. 2026 will be the last year of the 1,000cc and we want to achieve the best results possible with the Honda RC213V. Development is already underway for 2026, working to continue refining and looking for more performance in all areas.”