Lucio Cecchinello's team has been racing Hondas since its debut in the premier category in 2006. The Japanese manufacturer has been in decline since 2020, the year Honda made a mistake.
2019, Honda dominates the World Championship with Marc Márquez. The Spanish rider wins his sixth MotoGP title, his eighth in Grand Prix. For its part, the Japanese manufacturer won the constructors' title as well as the teams' title.
The following year, everything was turned upside down. The global pandemic sets in, the World Championship is delayed. It is only in July that the season begins, on the Jerez circuit, in Spain. The drivers will compete in two meetings there. During the first weekend, Marc Márquez suffered a heavy fall. The Spanish pilot suffers from a fracture of the humerus of his right arm. His season is over. Stefan Bradl replaces him. The Japanese manufacturer failed to win in the Grand Prix, despite Alex Márquez's two podiums.
Honda's mistake
Lucio Cecchinello, who was racing Cal Crutchlow and Takaaki Nakagami at the time, was the best placed Japanese driver in the overall standings, finishing the season in 10th position. The man at the head of the LCR team returns to Honda's mistake, for which the Japanese manufacturer is still paying today.
“During the absence of Marc Márquez, we did nothing in terms of development, while the others continued to develop their projects. The work started to move more towards aerodynamics and in 2021, when Marc did a few races, he then reported on the progress the others had made,” he tells GPOne.
Since 2020, Honda has won four times (three times with Marc Márquez in 2021 and once with Alex Rins in 2023). Since 2022, the Japanese manufacturer has occupied last place in the manufacturers' ranking, despite the modification of concessions giving Honda an advantage.
