Marco Bezzecchi
Honda are set to end their development efforts on their 2026 bike, prioritising the 2027 season’s development going forward.
Honda’s efforts in 2026 haven’t gone well, as they find themselves fourth in the constructors’ championship, with LCR Honda and Honda HRC Castrol sitting seventh and eighth, respectively, in the team championship standings.
While Honda’s talks with Tech3 are ongoing, their performances this season have left the impression that their focus is more on next season.
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Honda’s MotoGP future for 2027 is unclear, with no agreement in place for them to return to the grid next season.
Despite this, Honda have decided to prioritise their development for the 2027 season entirely by ending their development for the current season.
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Honda are ready to go all-in on 2027 after cutting off development for 2026 bike
Speaking to AS after the test last week in Jerez, Joan Mir revealed that Honda were supposed to bring parts to the test, but they never arrived.
“Some parts were supposed to arrive here (at the Jerez test), but they’ve been focused on trying to find ideas in other ways, and for some reason, they haven’t arrived.
“Some new electronics, yes, and they did work. But above all, we focused on understanding and testing different new ideas that Honda has brought to make the bike more competitive in terms of grip and cornering under throttle, which are always the things we’re lacking.”
Johann Zarco also spoke about the lack of development push from Honda, revealing that the team is now fully prioritising their project for next year.
“We tested different configurations as planned. We didn’t have any new parts. Honda is now focusing on the project for next year.”
Honda have now made the development of the prototype of their 2027 850cc bike their main priority, with a massive regulation change coming to MotoGP next season
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Honda are taking a big risk focusing on 2027 when they haven’t answered several questions
As things stand, there are more questions than answers surrounding Honda’s future. There isn’t much known about their 2027 bike or their strategy heading into the new season.
A regulation change in MotoGP tends to set teams back to square one. While one would imagine Honda prioritising their development for next season would give them a leg-up, that isn’t a guarantee.
With Honda’s struggles this season, combined with their lack of experience with an 850cc bike, the team in Sakura will have to make plans for the next season based on their best hunches.
Of course, this risk could pay off, in theory. But there is a huge risk for Honda that things might not turn out well for them next year either.
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