Honda’s current MotoGP form puts it at risk of major benefit loss for 2026 season

Honda has well and truly put its worst year ever in 2024 behind it with a strong 2025 season that continues to see the Japanese brand progress further up the MotoGP pecking order.

Having gone without any wins and podiums since the 2023 season, Honda celebrated a grand prix victory with Johann Zarco this year at a wet French Grand Prix.

It followed that up with a second-place finish at the British Grand Prix (run in dry conditions), again with LCR’s Zarco leading the charge.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Joan Mir gave the factory Honda team its first Sunday podium since the same event in 2023, and added a second to his scorecard last time out at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Understandably, Honda is starting to think much bigger as it looks towards 2026, and then the rules rest in 2027.

“When you see that the results are coming and the bike is improving, the riders know they can push a little bit more,” Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro said in Malaysia.

“The target is clear to win races and at the beginning of the season, it looked like a dream. But now we can touch it with the fingers.”

Concession benefit change on the horizon for Honda

Honda has made good use of the concession system implemented for 2024 by the organisers in a bid to help HRC and Japanese rival Yamaha get back up the grid.

While both have made tangible gains compared to 2024, Honda is the one looking most likely to break into the top half of the field next season.

Honda’s engineering department - now helmed by ex-Aprilia technical chief Romano Albesiano - hasn’t relented on updating the current RC213V package, with various new items providing big gains.

One area where Honda has really improved is its engine, which is now producing better power while seemingly also providing good traction.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, both Zarco and Mir were clocked at a best speed of 338.5km/h (210.3mph). That was only bettered by KTM’s Pedro Acosta at 341.7km/h (212.3mph).

That’s a pretty significant jump from one year ago at the same event, where the best Honda set a best top speed of 334.3km/h (207.7mph).

Top speed is free time for a MotoGP rider, but having more usable horsepower helps bring riders away from the absolute limit under braking as there is less emphasis on making up for lost tenths.

Though Mir has been a frequent crasher (though not all were his fault), team-mate Luca Marini has had just one across the 20 rounds run so far.

While concessions offer a number of benefits, the key one is free engine development for those ranked D. Honda and Yamaha are the only D-ranked brands currently.

Any manufacturer ranked as C or higher must observe an engine development freeze.

A change in ranking now to a higher band means a development freeze will come into immediate effect for 2026, after a rule was passed to keep costs under control ahead of the 2027 850cc switch.

Honda is currently on the verge of moving up the concession ranking. Under the current rules, a ranking is based on the percentage of the total points on offer scored within two windows by a manufacturer.

In this case, the window accounts for the first race of 2025 to the final one. Any manufacturer who has scored less than 35% of the total available points for the season, which in this case is 814, will be classified as concession rank D.

Honda, after 20 rounds, sits at 35.946% (266 points) of the total scored through 20 rounds so far. If it didn’t score again across the final two rounds in Portugal and Valencia, Honda would end the season below the 35% threshold at 32.678%.

To get to the 35% mark, Honda has to end the season with 285 points (35.012%) or more to be promoted to rank C alongside KTM and Aprilia.

With 74 points left up for grabs this year, Honda needs just 19 to advance its concession rank. At present, it is at a points-per-round average of 13.3.

As well as losing free engine development for 2026 if it does advance to rank C, Honda would also lose its ability to freely test with race riders, lose one engine from its allocation down to at least seven instead of nine, and lose one of its two aero updates for the season.

It would have 40 fewer tyres to use for testing and would be limited to testing at just three circuits on the current calendar; at present, it is allowed to test at any circuit. Honda would keep its six wildcards for the season, however.

The reduction in testing for Honda, though, is offset by the fact that it strengthened its test team over the winter to add three-time grand prix winner Aleix Espargaro alongside Takaaki Nakagami.

The freeze on engine development is also well-timed. While any manufacturer would prefer freedom to develop an engine year-round, Honda has worked its way into a good place with its current motor and can now focus all of its resources on 2027.

Yamaha, by contrast, is working on a V4 project for next year under the current 1000cc regulations while also determining its pathway for the 850cc project.

The Iwata-based manufacturer can mathematically move up the concession order, too. However, it would need to score 64 points from the final two rounds and is currently at a points-per-round average of 11.05.