Honda has provided an explanation for not bringing any substantial updates to its MotoGP bike in Tuesday’s official test in Barcelona.
While rival manufacturers took big steps in their preparations for the forthcoming season during the seven hours of running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Honda did not have its 2025 bike on hand to test, nor did it have any major new parts available to evaluate.
The situation particularly angered factory rider Joan Mir, who said: "The reality is that I didn't have a lot of things to test, I had already tested everything before. I've done 70 laps with things I've tested at least twice.”
The unavailability of new parts at Honda was evident in the results, with its best runner Johann Zarco finishing 10th on the LCR-entered RC213V. Mir and team-mate Luca Marini ended up even further down in 15th and 18th on the factory bikes.
However, HRC boss Alberto Puig insisted there was a valid reason behind the Japanese marque taking a conservative approach in Barcelona.
Puig explained that Honda had been able to privately run several new components over the course of the year thanks to the concession system, and thus it did not find it sensible to bring anything notable to the official test.
"The 2025 prototype is built when you have something that fits you," Puig told DAZN.
"As we have done so many tests during the year, it didn't make sense to bring the prototype here. During the year we have been trying many things, and it didn't make sense to bring a 'black' bike here, when we have had a 'black' bike for a large part of the year."
Honda will conduct a private test in Jerez later this month, when some new upgrades that are in the pipeline for 2025 could finally be ready. But the Barcelona test was seen as crucial for manufacturers as it allowed them to run direct comparisons with data gathered from the previous weekend’s race at the same circuit.
Puig revealed that Honda’s focus in Barcelona was to understand and fix the chattering issue that has plagued Mir in the final months of the 2024 season.
"We had three important things to test, which we have been testing during the year, but we do not have a prototype as such," he said.
"We work with different issues of the bike, for stability, braking, vibrations. It has not been easy to solve the vibrations. It's not your typical chattering, it's something bigger. It conditions the riders a lot. It is what has us most worried.”
Honda ended the season dead last in the championship on 75 points, 49 behind its nearest rival Yamaha.
LCR and HRC likewise finished 10th and 11th in the teams’ table, while Honda's best-placed rider Zarco could only muster 17th place in the standings.
However, there was a visible improvement in Honda’s pace since September, allowing Zarco to break into the top 10 in two of the final six grands prix of the season.
"We end the year with the feeling of having made progress," said Puig. "The bike didn't turn very well, and after Misano it started to do so – now it turns well.”
Honda was boosted in Barcelona by the arrival of three-time grand prix winner Aleix Espargaro as a new test rider. Espargaro ended up 14th-quickest in the one-day test, ahead of both Mir and Marini.
Asked for his first impressions of the former Aprilia star, Puig said: "Aleix has the speed. We are very happy with how he has conveyed the opinion of his bike, in a very clear and direct way. I liked the forcefulness with which he spoke, very impartial. It has given us very interesting information.”
