Honda’s progression was swiftly noticed at the 2025 season-opening Thailand MotoGP.
The worst bike on last year’s grid was immediately competitive from Friday in Buriram.
Johann Zarco caught the eye by finishing seventh in the grand prix, with Luca Marini 12th.
Somkiat Chantra was 18th on his premier class debut, while Joan Mir did not finish.
But Mir qualified in 12th, and finished ninth in the sprint, before surprisingly declaring Honda could fight for second spot behind only Ducati.
“The Honda has made massive steps,” Sylvain Guintoli told TNT Sports in Buriram.
“Mir said after Sepang, even more after the Buriram test, the front end feeling was better.
“He could brake deeper, he had more feedback from the tyre.
“Last year he just crashed every week, he had no idea what was going on, he was off-pace too.
“But they have found something, he has the feeling back.
“Mir’s riding style is to brake hard. He brakes late. He is efficient to stop the bike. But he couldn’t do that until now. “Honda look much better across all their riders, especially Joan.”
Neil Hodgson said: “It’s nice to have positive news for Honda. It has been a disaster for three years.”
He added: “The Japanese manufacturers have embraced, and poached, European knowledge and European engineers. They have embraced the space race.”
Honda and Yamaha warned about focus on the future
Romano Albesiano has swapped Aprilia for Honda, to become their new technical director.
Honda have also recruited Aleix Espargaro, after his retirement from racing, as a test rider. He is paired with Takaaki Nakagami, who was dropped from his race seat to join the test team.
Similarly, Yamaha have brought in Max Bartolini as a technical director who is tipped to improve their project.
Yamaha also acquired the Pramac team, doubling their presence on the grid and their access to data.
While Yamaha are considering a major change of engine, Honda are considering the upcoming MotoGP regulations change.
But both have been warned to focus on today, too.
“It takes a lot of resources to concurrently develop two different machines,” Michael Laverty said.
“Yamaha are looking at the V4 versus the inline-four, Honda are looking at the 850cc for 2027.
“They know that they must work in the ‘now’. There is knowledge to gain in the next few seasons trying to close the gap to Ducati. The knowledge will prevail.
“It’s important to take advantage of the concessions and bring usable information to the track.
“And, race with it! Previously Honda were too afraid to put something out on a race weekend in case it failed.
“They are prepared to accept the risk of embarrassment which they didn’t like in the past, if something failed on the race track it was a no-no for their company ethos.
“Now they throw more things at it to play catch-up, and to do as the Europeans do.”
