After breaking out of the lowest MotoGP concession band at last year’s Valencia finale, Honda has endured a tougher-than-expected start to 2026.

Across the opening four races, the best result for an RC213V is seventh place by Joan Mir in the Buriram Sprint.

To put that into perspective Aprilia, Ducati and KTM have at least one race win so far, with even Yamaha’s new V4 claiming a best of sixth place with Fabio Quartararo in last Saturday’s Brazilian Sprint.

Heading into this weekend’s COTA round, Luca Marini insists the 2026-spec Honda is capable of fighting for the top six, but qualifying remains a weakness.

The Italian started 14th on the grid in Thailand and 19th in Brazil.

“Back to work right away at a track which I enjoy a lot,” Marini said. “To go from one of the shortest circuits on the calendar to one of the longest is certainly a big change!

“COTA is a track where the rider can really make the difference, in the past I have gone well there, and so has the Honda RC213V. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do together and seeing how the bike has progressed since we last visited.”

“Improving, but results a little worse”

“I think we will have the opportunity to fight for the top six and this is the target we must have. Because we are improving, but in the results, we are a little worse than last season,” Marini said.

“So it is not great to feel this step back in the standings. 

“We will try to achieve a better position and show our potential, but in the qualifying we are missing something and to start from the back is always difficult.

“I hope we can put everything together in Texas and enjoy the weekend.”

Marini will start the event holding twelfth in the world championship, one point behind the top Honda of LCR’s Johann Zarco.

Meanwhile, Mir, who scored two Honda podiums in the second half of last season, suffered a nightmare double retirement in Brazil.

“In Brazil, we showed our speed, we showed our ability to be the top Honda rider and repeating that is the objective this weekend,” he said.

“It will be about staying focused and working well with the team to create the best situation possible to deliver on what we know we can do.”

Aprilia currently leads the 2026 MotoGP constructors’ standings with 64 points, ahead of reigning champion Ducati on 47. KTM has 42 points, Honda 16 and Yamaha 8.

Free practice at COTA, the final MotoGP event before a three-weekend break caused by the postponement of Qatar, starts on Friday morning.

Ducati’s Davide Tardozzi has responded to rumours that Gresini could switch manufacturer for the 2027 MotoGP season, but says “I think they want to stay”.

Ducati has put a lot of emphasis on its satellite partners as being a key asset in its domination of MotoGP this decade.

At one time, having three satellite partners, Ducati still has the most bikes on the grid with six: two factory team GP26s, a GP26 and GP25 at Gresini, and the same at VR46 this season.

In a tricky start to the 2026 campaign, Ducati’s sole grand prix podium has come at the hands of one of its satellite bikes, after VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio beat Marc Marquez to third at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

But its current satellite structure faces an uncertain future, following reports across the Brazil weekend that Gresini is eyeing a return to Honda in 2027.

Ducati: “We don’t want to lose” Gresini

Gresini’s 2027 plans remain up in the air, with strong rumours suggesting both of its current riders will be leaving the team at the end of the year.

Alex Marquez, who was runner-up in the standings in 2025, is set to join the factory KTM outfit, while Fermin Aldeguer will continue with Ducati at VR46.

The Race then reported over the weekend that Gresini could return to Honda machinery in 2027, renewing a partnership that began in 2002 and ran until 2014.

It was a hugely significant period for the team founded by the late Fausto Gresini, with the squad finishing runner-up in the standings in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Gresini became Aprilia’s factory entry from 2015, before returning to independent status in 2022 as a Ducati customer.

Despite never having full factory machinery from Ducati until this year with Alex Marquez, Gresini has won races with all of its riders since 2022.

Reports of Aldeguer moving to VR46 angered Gresini team owner Nadia Padovani, Motorsport’s Spanish edition claimed, largely because it was unexpected.

Aldeguer’s contract is directly with Ducati, rather than Gresini, with the Spaniard holding a two-year option on his current deal that he has seemingly now exercised.

On the matter, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi told Sky Italy: “We don’t want to lose them.

“They’re a great team, starting with their debut results. Nadia debuted with [Enea] Bastianini’s victory in Qatar [in 2022].

“We’ll do everything we can, but I think they also want to stay with Ducati.”

Honda has remained tight-lipped on the situation, though its steady climb back up the order has made it a more desirable bike for customers, while HRC having six bikes on the grid with its factory team, LCR and Gresini would help accelerate development.

Luca Marini is “looking forward” to seeing the way the Brazil MotoGP circuit has “progressed” since he first rode it last year, the Italian has said.

Marini was one of a few riders to take part in a short event at the Autordomo Internacional de Goiania last year, along with Franco Morbidelli, Diogo Moreira, Miguel Oliveira, and Eric Granado. The departure of Oliveira from MotoGP to World Superbike means that only Marini, Moreira, and Morbidelli of this year’s premier class field have previous experience at the Goiania track, albeit on production bikes, ahead of its debut on the MotoGP calendar this weekend (20–22 March).

Marini notes that the circuit’s layout was tight when he tried it on a road bike, a feeling that is only likely to be exaggerated on a more powerful MotoGP bike. But the Italian is keen to see how the track has changed since last March.

“I am really looking forward to this weekend; Brazil is a country that has a lot of passion and interest for motorcycles and discovering somewhere new is a unique point of MotoGP,” Luca Marini said.

“In 2025 I got to ride the circuit on the CBR, it was quite a tight layout and I’m looking forward to seeing how things have progressed and changed with the track since then. 

“Our package is quite strong from the start of a weekend which will help us to be competitive, new tracks like this make everything closer and we showed in Hungary last year the level we can achieve. 

“The Thai weekend had an acceptable end, now it’s time to make a step and get closer.”

Mir: “New circuits is something I’m usually good at” 

Marini’s Honda HRC teammate Joan Mir was on course for a top-six finish in Buriram before he retired with a tyre issue. The Spaniard his hopeful that the speed with which he has learnt new tracks in the past will also be a characteristic that serves him well on this first trip to Goiania.

“We come to Goiania with a lot of motivation; in Thailand we were very competitive on Sunday,” the 2020 champion said.

“Getting up to speed at new circuits is something I am usually quite good at and the Honda finds a good level quickly, so I think we can be in our target zone from the start. 

“Of course, we need to see how the circuit is and how everyone is going there but this makes the weekend more exciting.

“I have heard a lot about Brazil so I am looking forward to arriving in a new place.”

Qualifying will play an even more important role than usual during MotoGP’s return to Brazil next weekend.

That’s the opinion of Luca Marini, who was among a handful of riders to visit the Goiania circuit during a PR event a year ago.

While insisting it was “impossible” to predict which bikes would suit the circuit, given the lack of any MotoGP laps, Marini did outline the main characteristics of the 3.82km track.

“It’s quite a fast track, but narrow, with some really slow corners, and short,” Marini said during the Thai Grand Prix season opener.

“I think it will be difficult to overtake. This is the critical point. Because the straight is super long, but Turn 1 is very fast. 

“And when there is a fast corner and the braking is short, it’s more difficult to overtake.

“But anyway, we will try to enjoy. Whenever there is a new track, it is a new challenge and a new opportunity for everybody.”

Goiania previously hosted motorcycle grand prix from 1987-1989, when the championship consisted of two-stroke machinery.

The circuit has been resurfaced and facilities upgraded for MotoGP’s return.

“In the Safety Commission, they showed us a video of all the facilities, all the buildings,” said Marini. “They have been working a lot.

“It looks like they did a good job. I’m looking forward to it.”

Two riders sure to receive plenty of home support next weekend will be 2026 MotoGP rookie Diogo Moreira, the reigning Moto2 world champion, plus Italian-Brazilian Franco Morbidelli.

Moreira and Morbidelli joined Marini, Miguel Oliveira and MotoE rider Eric Granado for last year’s Goiania visit.

Honda has released the first footage of its 850cc MotoGP prototype on track.

The machine, built for the new 2027 technical regulations, was ridden for the first time by factory test rider Takaaki Nakagami at Sepang in Malaysia last December.

However, details were kept secret until now.

The video (below) shows Nakagami in action during the rain-affected test, including the engine sound on the straight, as well as his first words about the future machine:

“The first impression is ‘super light’. I was a bit surprised, in these conditions. Yeah, quite nice.”
 

Honda is the second MotoGP manufacturer to reveal footage of its 850cc machine on track, after KTM in early December.

Yamaha is rumoured to have done some initial running behind closed doors, while Ducati and Aprilia are aiming for a ‘spring’ debut.

Alongside reducing engine capacity, from 1000cc to 850cc, the revised technical rules ban ride-height devices and restrict the size of aerodynamics.

Perhaps most significantly, MotoGP will also switch from Michelin to Pirelli tyres.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez has said he welcomes efforts to reduce the eye-watering top speeds, but feels the smaller bikes might post even faster lap times.

“I think lap times at many circuits will be very similar, or even faster, because you have lower weight and horsepower, but better handling,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Honda is rumoured to have signed former world champion Fabio Quartararo from Yamaha to headline its 2027 rider line-up.

Luca Marini says Honda’s long-running MotoGP chatter problem has now been “completely solved”.

Extra grip produced by Michelin’s revised 2024 rear tyre seemed to trigger chatter, or chronic vibration during cornering.

While Ducati and Aprilia found a way to avoid the problem, the shaking continued to hamper the likes of Yamaha, KTM and Honda during last season.

However, speaking at the Thai MotoGP season opener, Marini said the issue has now been resolved.

“It depends a little bit on the tracks and the tyres that we have. But here I remember that last year there was a big vibration in Turn 4,” he added.

“We worked a lot during last season, and now we have a good balance.”

Marini emphasised there was no single solution but a combination of technical and riding style changes.

“Many things,” he said. “We improved the setting of the bike, first of all, and during the last part of the season, it was better.

“And the riding style also. We adapted and improved how to ride, to force in a different way in corner entry to not create this vibration.

“Because if we go much more aggressive, like I would say with a lot of rear brake, then the vibration starts.

“If we are smoother, the vibration is less.

“During all last season, I was the rider with less vibration because I was riding more smoothly.

“So now the others are also doing a little bit more this kind of thing and it works better. But also, the setting of the bike is improved.”

Honda’s next challenge is to improve rear grip, as it seeks to build on a wet race win with Johann Zarco last season, plus three dry podiums.

“The bike is good, we found more performance, but still we need to work on our main target, that is the rear grip,” Marini confirmed.

“It’s clear to everybody and soon some updates will arrive, but we need to wait a little bit more.”

The rear grip deficiency is a bigger hindrance when using the soft rear tyre during time attacks and Sprint races.

“We cannot extract the potential from a new soft rear tyre,” Marini said. 

“When we go out with the medium rear tyre, the gap compared to the top is less. [Sometimes] I’m more competitive than with the soft.

“So we need to work more on this.”

Marini finished tenth in both Buriram races. 

Team-mate Joan Mir was the top Honda in the Sprint (seventh) before retiring from fifth place late in the grand prix due to extreme rear tyre wear.

Marc Marquez’s rim ‘explosion’ put Joan Mir up to fifth place with a handful of laps to go in Sunday’s Thai MotoGP.

But just moments later, the Honda rider was forced to pit with a different kind of terminal tyre issue of his own.

While Marquez’s downfall was caused by a heavy impact with a kerb, rather than the tyre itself, a strip of rubber appeared to be missing from the middle of Mir’s rear tyre.

“I enjoyed all the race, 22 laps, until I had a problem with an ‘external supplier’!” GPOne.com quotes Mir as saying, the Honda rider carefully avoiding the word ‘tyre’.

“We have to check properly what happened because it was very strange. Normally, you feel a drop [in grip], but in this case, I had to retire.”

Mir revealed there was so much wheelspin that it confused the RC213V’s electronics.

“I could not even stay on the bike because it was dangerous. Even the electronics of the bike were not working properly with the amount of spin, so the bike was stopping,” he said.

“All the hard work during the test, weekend and race was over with a few laps to go.”

The 2020 MotoGP champion added that he had very little warning.

“It was quite unexpected, from one lap to the other. I think we were all struggling a lot with the tyre management. But this was something different. So we have to understand.”

Without the tyre issue, Mir felt he might even have challenged Aprilia’s Jorge Martin for fourth place.

“We have to be very happy and proud because it’s not an easy track for us,” he said. “I had to compensate with the front, but I was able to defend my position and even attack at the end.

“At the end of last year we had some tracks that were a little bit better for our style and bike and could make a couple of podiums,

“But in a track like this one where we’ve been struggling a lot – a top five or even catching Jorge for a top four was more than what we could imagine. So it was a shame.”

Mir’s exit left HRC team-mate Luca Marini as the top Honda, in tenth place.

Honda MotoGP rider Luca Marini has responded to rumours linking him to a Yamaha move for the 2027 season.

The 2027 rider market is set to explode in the coming days, with a number of high-profile signings expected to be announced.

Ahead of the 2026 season starting this weekend in Thailand, Ducati looks set to pair Marc Marquez with Pedro Acosta, while Pecco Bagnaia moves to Aprilia alongside the already-confirmed Marco Bezzecchi.

Fabio Quartararo is expected to move to Honda in 2027, while Jorge Martin is reported to be nearing a deal to replace him at Yamaha.

Why Marini-to-Yamaha makes sense for both parties

Yamaha is in the middle of a rebuilding phase, with its pre-season on its new V4 proving less than encouraging.

Luca Marini has been an instrumental part in Honda’s competitive rebound over the past two years since joining the brand from VR46 Ducati in 2024.

On Thursday in Thailand, Spanish journalist Mela Chercoles reported that Marini could join Yamaha next season.

When asked about these links, Marini responded: “I don’t know anything, but it’s true that when it comes to developing a bike, I’m the best.”

Marini has endeared himself to Honda during his stint for his analytical approach, which has helped accelerate its bike development.

However, as it moves into 2027 with loftier ambitions and is able to court superstar talent, Marini’s place at Honda looks uncertain.

HRC doesn’t have much space to play with on the grid. Its current LCR duo of Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira are contracted into 2027.

With Quartararo set to take one of the factory team seats, that leaves space for just one other rider.

Zarco’s experience, as well as Honda’s test team of Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami, somewhat negates the need for the addition of Marini’s strong development approach.

Despite being more consistent last year, Marini didn’t have the out-and-out speed of team-mate Joan Mir, who managed two podiums later in the campaign.

With Yamaha set to bring on a top name in Jorge Martin, its current situation makes Marini a very attractive second rider, especially having gone through similar growing pains with Honda over the past two years.

This prospect does raise questions over Alex Rins’ future, with the six-time MotoGP race winner struggling to be competitive since joining Yamaha in 2024. 

Joan Mir admits Honda doesn’t have a “super competitive” bike after MotoGP pre-season testing and is looking for a “revolution” to fix its main weakness of a lack of grip.

After a strong 2025 campaign in which it developed a more competitive package, big things are expected of Honda this season.

However, it looks like it will start the 2026 season somewhat on the back foot after a tricky testing phase.

Joan Mir was its leading light in 10th on the combined timesheets at the Buriram test, though he complained that the RC213V is struggling for grip.

While he believes this is not being helped by the stiffer rear tyre carcass used at the Buriram track, he also noted that the issue was present at the Sepang test.

“Honestly, in this track, for some reason we found more difficulties than in Sepang, especially for myself,” he said.

“I could not put the bike in the same place in terms of potential, in general.

“So, I’m not super happy honestly, because here it’s important, you see more or less who the guys are to beat in the next weekend.

“And, in reality, we struggled a bit in terms of grip. Probably, this different carcass is not our big friend at the moment and that meant we had to change the bike a little bit.

“It’s not super clear for us at the moment the direction to take because we don’t have a super competitive package at the moment.

“So, this is how I feel. Probably during this week the guys will find something and that will help, but the reality is this one.”

He added: “In terms of potential, I expected more. The grip is something that… in Sepang I think I said we have to improve the grip, it’s our weakness.

“At the moment, I think Ducati and Aprilia are in a different level at the moment.

“This is how I see now here in this track. In Sepang it was similar, but I think there we had a chance. But here, no.”

With Honda lifting itself out of the bottom of the concession rankings last season, it has not been able to develop a new engine for 2026.

As such, Mir notes the current package is an “evolution”, but that a “revolution” is needed to improve the Honda’s grip.

“We are a bit in the process,” he explained.

“It’s true that now we tried different things, but not a different concept.

“The concept is the same. There is some evolution and not a revolution, and in terms of grip we need a revolution.

“We are in a similar position as last year, because the others have improved.

“We’ve improved, but the others are probably the same or more. Hopefully, with the other carcass, our bike’s behaviour improves and we can be more competitive.”

Honda MotoGP rider Joan Mir admits the brand doesn’t “have a fantastic package” yet ahead of the 2026 season, following a troubled day one of the Buriram test.

The Japanese manufacturer comes into the new campaign looking to build on its strong rebuild in 2025, where it managed a win and three other podiums.

Honda looks like it is continuing in the right trend following a solid Sepang test, while it was fifth overall at the end of day one at the Buriram test on Saturday.

Joan Mir was seventh, having been left with only one bike to use because of a technical problem, but was pleased with the time attack effort he was able to produce.

That said, he admitted Honda is still far from putting together a complete package.

“It was a little bit more complicated than I expected, because at the beginning of the day we had a problem with one of our bikes and we have to understand what happened, because we don’t know,” Mir began.

“And then when we moved to the other bike, something wasn’t right with that bike.

“So, we lost the morning, we wasted it. Then we started to work hard from midday to the afternoon, and it was positive.

“We don’t have a fantastic package at the moment, but it’s true it allowed us to make a good lap time.

“I rode completely alone. It was not a bad lap time for the first day here.

“It’s true that here you cannot miss anything because the lap times are super close, because the track is not super difficult. So, that creates a lot of equality in the top 10.”

The 2020 world champion added that the technical issue he experienced with one of his bikes meant Honda was unable to carry out any back-to-back comparisons on new set-up solutions.

“We have more work than what I expected because of this thing in the morning,” he noted.

“They have worked today to understand many things, because when you only work with one bike, normally it’s the bike you try different things, and we tried things without comparing to our base because we had that problem.

“And this complicated the day a little bit, but we could figure it out.”