Apart from Casey Stoner’s 2007 triumph with Ducati, every single MotoGP or 500cc world champion since 1975 has taken their crown with a Japanese manufacturer.
That’s an astonishing statistic.
And yet recent calls from modern MotoGP’s greatest riders for the Japanese marques to change or be toppled make absolute sense.
The Japanese factory teams need to change their mindset and replicate how their European rivals work if they’re to stem the rising charge of the likes of Ducati, Aprilia and KTM, according to both six-time world champion Marc Marquez and reigning title holder and current points leader Fabio Quartararo.
Their comments come as no real shock considering the criticisms that have been levelled at both Honda and Yamaha in recent years, with both factories essentially being propped up by the results of their respective leading riders – and with Marquez’s latest injury absence in particular highlighting just how bad the situation has become for MotoGP’s most successful marque.
It’s currently in the midst of its worst streak without a podium finish since 1982 and with Marquez still the top-ranked Honda in the championship standings despite having missed six races so far this year.
Marquez spoke to the media during a brief visit to last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and clarified comments he made about the team’s need to change in his absence.
“When I say the team it is not people, it is the concept of the team,” he explained.
“We are seeing that European teams are working in a different way. We are seeing that Honda are working a lot, more than ever, and the budget is there – you can’t say that they aren’t working.
“So when I say that we need to change the team, it’s the concept, the coordination, to try and find the way.
“I’m not the guy to say that this is the correct way, because Honda is a brand that has won more titles than any other in the world, and I’m here with them because I believe in them and believe I can come to the top with them.”
His idea for where that change needs to come seems to be straightforward, too: a closer integration of the test and race teams.
It’s something that’s been spearheaded by Ducati in particular with its extensive use of Michele Pirro not only as tester but also as wildcard racer, injury replacement and on-track spotter, and it’s obviously aided by the close proximity of Ducati’s Bologna headquarters to most of MotoGP’s races across Europe.
The Japanese factories have been slow to follow suit even as all three (with Suzuki included) have been essentially coerced into setting up their own European test teams in recent years.
But, with those teams becoming more important than ever in an age of limited testing – and with a new front Michelin tyre in 2024 set to shake up the grid – Marquez says Honda needs to become more at one internally.
“It’s true that they need to understand the way to organise well,” he added, “because every time we have more and more and more races, less testing, and the work of the factory becomes more and more important at the circuit. But the circuit needs to be working together with the factory.
“I’m not the person to say, ‘You need to organise the team like this’. I am a rider.
“Of course, I’m asking for the best bike on the track, and this is my target and Honda’s target. HRC are there to win titles and the target of all riders riding for Repsol Honda is to fight for the championship. Even if the feeling isn’t good in the next pre-season, the target will be to fight for the championship.
“Now it looks like the mind is open, and this is the most important thing. For everyone to work together and in the same direction.”
That’s only half of the issue, however, with another part of the puzzle being the way in which the Japanese factories have been left behind recently in terms of new innovations.
They haven’t stayed competitive with aerodynamics and ride height devices in particular, and it’s been a hurdle for both Quartararo at Yamaha and his champion predecessor Joan Mir at Suzuki.
And while Yamaha is working to address some of those problems with the hiring of former Ferrari and Toyota Formula 1 man Luca Marmorini to reinvigorate its engine development, Quartararo says that there’s still plenty of room for the team to improve by being less conservative and more forward-thinking.
“I feel like we are playing way too far from the rules,” he said.
“We are taking a little bit too much care, and I think sometimes you have to play a little.
“Already for next year’s bike it’s changing the way a little bit, and so is the new engineer that’s coming to Yamaha.
“I feel like it’s changing still too slowly, but at least I can see that they’re taking a little bit of the European mentality, especially the Italian one.
“But I think that this is the way to try many things. Maybe sometimes even things we think aren’t useful, because we need to try what they have in mind.”
