MotoGP: Marc Marquez is not enough, Honda needs a turnaround

The 2022 MotoGP season, which will get underway in Qatar in March, looks to be the year of truth for the Honda team. With Marc Marquez’s injuries, the last two years have really put the Japanese to the test, but the manufacturer should also be able to count on Pol Espargaró, Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, at least in theory. Up until now, that hasn’t exactly been the case, so what has gone wrong and what needs to change?

Pol just barely “saved”: 2022 will reveal all

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We start with the factory team of course. 2021 was Pol Espargaró’s first season aboard the RC213V. A bike with which he initially clashed before gradually adapting to it. This came as no surprise, as the Honda has long proved to be a rebellious bike. And so Pol only confirmed this, although he was eventually able to find what appears to be a way forward (together with Marquez) during the end of summer tests and the last part of the season. His best result was second place at the Emilia Romagna round, although he also scored fifth place at Silverstone and sixth in the Algarve. Espargaró has clearly been trying, that’s for sure, and has refused to give in despite the difficulties that he’s faced in adapting to the new bike. In the absence of his team-mate, he’s also tried to move forward with development, travelling in the same direction as the LCR riders in this regard. More than once, he has said that Honda needs a common path to follow in terms of developing the RC213V.

It is also important to add that, for the first time, Pol found himself riding a bike he didn’t know and he didn’t even have his team-mate as a reference. A rider who has won ‘just’ six MotoGP world titles with Honda. Would it have been better or worse for him to have Marquez in the garage? We have no crystal ball of course, but if Marc is fit and able to compete this season, we may get our answer and be able to see Espargaró’s real potential. What is certain is that if the results fail to come, HRC will shake Pol’s hand and bid him farewell come the end of the season. Also because it’s just not on to have only one rider (in four) who is able to ride the bike.

Honda needs a change of course, or it will ‘crash’ once again

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And the same goes for Lucio Cecchinello’s team LCR. In 2020, with Marc Marquez out of the running, the Japanese focused their attention on Takaaki Nakagami. And then in 2021 there was also Alex Marquez, but both the Spaniard and the Japanese drew a blank. So who was to blame for this? The bike? The rider? The team? It’s hard to say in a situation like this.

Considering Pol Espargaró’s difficulties, we can at least say that the RC213V didn’t help. In fact, it caused the riders no end of headaches, but this essentially comes down to its development, which, without Marc Marquez, was taken in the wrong direction. Alex himself admitted this at the end of the season. But this isn’t enough to “exonerate” the two riders for their poor results. 2022 will need to be the year of the turnaround, otherwise they too may find the door closed heading into 2023. Will the return of Marc Marquez be enough to give Honda its spark back? If he’s in shape, then he’ll surely score results, but HRC needs a strategy that sees it do away with supporting riders and focus instead on standout riders who can fight at the front. The path it has travelled until now is clearly not taking the manufacturer in the right direction.

Translated by Heather Watson

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