It is hard to stay humble with that kind of history and, sure enough, the team makes little effort to hide its arrogance.
Marc Marquez “warned” Pol Espargaro as he was joining Repsol Honda that team members “must fight for the championship.” It is expected, because, after all, we are Honda. Alberto Puig, the current team manager, displays a similar level of cockiness when he describes what is “expected” of Honda riders.
Regardless of its history, and current bravado, Repsol Honda under Puig’s guidance now finds itself in deep trouble. I’m not talking about the fact that its star rider recently underwent a fourth surgery on his right arm after suffering an injury that has been needlessly prolonged by a separate act of arrogance (when Puig allowed Marquez to return to racing far too quickly after the initial injury and surgical repair).
The central problem is not the continuing struggles of Marquez, but the lack of a reasoned approach at Honda to move forward and regain the consistent success it has been known for in Premier class road racing. The other three riders currently aboard the latest Honda MotoGP prototype are Taka Nakagami, Pol Espargaro and Alex Marquez. These are very talented riders, yet they currently rank 16th, 17th and 18th in the points standings, and clearly are unable to find a proper set-up for their bikes on most weekends. It is expected that all three of these riders will leave Honda at the end of the year as it “cleans house” and waits, yet again, for the recovery of Marc Marquez (older brother of Alex). Is this a rational approach?
Puig, and Honda, seem content to place all of their eggs in the Marc Marquez basket. Indeed, it is their hope that Marquez will recover enough to do some testing later this year to improve a bike that is inconsistent at best, and a DNF monster (principally, due to crashing) at worst. Honda seems to forget, or chooses to ignore, the fact that Marc Marquez is always one crash away from further injury and several missed races. Two of his most significant “pre-existing conditions” relate to that right arm, and a vulnerability to double-vision episodes that result from crashes involving head trauma. There is no question that Marc Marquez is one of the all-time greats in the sport, but Repsol Honda is known for having two strong riders, both of which (as Marc warned Pol) are expected to battle for the championship.
Joan Mir is a young rider (24 years old) who has achieved considerable success, including the 2020 MotoGP World championship, and the 2017 Moto3 World championship. He finds himself without a job next year thanks to Suzuki’s abrupt departure from MotoGP. Despite his success, Mir finds himself without much negotiating leverage for a new ride in MotoGP. There is an abundance of talent in MotoGP at the moment … perhaps more talent than at any other point in Premier class racing history. Enormous, proven talents include Fabio Quartararo and Pecco Bagnaia, but the rookie class and the sophomore class in MotoGP is also stacked. Mir hasn’t had a particularly successful 2022 campaign, as he currently ranks 8th in MotoGP points – unable to find the podium in any of the first 11 rounds. With most of the other seats available in MotoGP for 2023 already taken, Mir’s manager admits that his choices include signing with Repsol Honda, as a teammate to Marquez, or taking a sabbatical and sitting at home.
Mir is apparently demanding a “champion’s salary” from Honda despite the mediocre year he is having. Time will tell if Honda and Mir can come to terms, but can it be expected that Mir will do any better next year aboard a Honda? His mediocre results this year come aboard a superior Suzuki.
Mir’s Suzuki teammate Alex Rins has already signed to ride a factory Honda next year on the satellite LCR team. In a recent podcast, Rins described the challenge of being competitive on the Honda, noting the struggles of Jorge Lorenzo, and, more recently, Pol Espargaro to find success on the same bike ridden by Marc Marquez.
Which brings us back to Marc Marquez and Honda’s hope that he will be able to test later this year and help improve what is perhaps the worst bike on the grid for the moment. Let’s hope he can, because, after all, Honda riders are “expected” to fight for the championship.
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