Mikihiko Kawase, Honda HRC MotoGP Technical Director: “One of the most important advances came from the engine. We worked not only on top speed, but also on the power delivery to make it more tractable.”

and With the 2025 MotoGP season over, Honda HRC looks back at a course characterized by constant progress and recovery after a particularly difficult few years. The Japanese manufacturer placed Johann Zarco as the highest overall driver, adding 148 points to finish the championship 397 points behind world champion Marc Marquez. In the team race, the official team of Joan Mir and Luca Marini finished 8th out of 11 participating teams, and LCR Honda finished 10th. In the Manufacturers category, Honda sits fourth from the bottom, just ahead of their great rival Yamaha on the grid. With this evolution, Increases the level of the concession system, but also means losing certain privileges in prototype development.

Honda HRC MotoGP Technical Director Mikihiko Kawase Since 2024, he describes his work as consisting of: “We will be coordinating the efforts of all teams and engineers on track, listening to our drivers and reviewing all available data.”. He points out that this information determines the technical direction and we are working with factories in Japan and Italy to develop it. Kawase also emphasized the addition of Romano Albesiano.and he maintains a “close working relationship to manage each race weekend in the best way possible and help Honda return to the top.”

Regarding his performance in 2025, Kawase said, “It was a great season. Honda’s constructor points are the highest since 2019.. While he admits the team may be complacent after some difficult campaigns, he reminds HRC’s goals remain the same. “We are in MotoGP to fight for victory.”so we have to keep striving until we are always ahead again. ”

The technical manager also reviews the technological advances achieved over the past two years. “We’ve been testing a lot of things: aerodynamics, chassis, engine. Competitive aerodynamic package available from late 2024 This allowed us to define the base bike. In 2025, we will continue to make progress in all fields. One of the big advances was the engine. “We are working not only on top speed, but also on power delivery to make the bike more manageable.”he explains. Mr. Kawase acknowledges the collaborative efforts of engineers from all departments and the efforts of pilots who continually collect data and test components.

For the immediate future, he acknowledges there are limits to new concessions. Fewer test tires, less time with official drivers, more restrictions on engine development. The role of the Test team, strengthened by Takaaki Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro, will therefore become even more decisive in 2026. ” “The allocation of resources between the 2026 and 2027 models will be determined soon, allowing for more efficient development.”he points out.

Mr. Kawase concluded the short course as follows. “Our goal is always to fight for the top five and fight for the podium as much as possible.”. 2026 will be our last year on the 1,000cc bike, so we want to get the best possible results with the RC213V. ”