Why MotoGP concession change timing works out for Honda

Luca Marini believes that MotoGP’s imminent shift to 850cc machinery will offset any disadvantage Honda faces from losing open engine development in 2026.

Honda has moved from D to C in the concessions ranking system after passing the 35 percent constructors’ points threshold this season.

As a result, the RC213V’s engine design will be frozen from the opening round in Thailand until the end of the campaign.

Ducati, Aprilia and KTM have been subject to the same freeze since the beginning of 2025, while Yamaha, now the only remaining D-ranked factory, can continue modifying its new V4 engine throughout next year.

But even if Honda had remained in rank D, Marini feels the shift in focus towards the 2027 regulations would have limited development of the outgoing 1000cc powerplants.

“For 2026, the engine is not going to change much,” Marini said when questioned about the downsides of moving to rank C. 

“There is no meaning now to invest so much time and money in a new 1000cc engine.

“I think now we can be satisfied. We will just ask for some more little details in the engine for the Sepang test, and otherwise I think it will be the same.”

Marini added that hitting the 285 points required to change concession class had been a clear objective since the summer break.

“We saw it could be possible to change the rank, and everybody was pushing so hard to achieve this,” he said.

The upgrade in ranking also means Honda’s four race riders will no longer be required to take part in private testing.

“It is something that you really need when you are in the back and I am happy to have done them, and to help Honda to arrive now to this level,” Marini said of the extra tests.

“But also, for us as factory riders, to have a little bit fewer events will be nice, because in these two years, we used so much energy outside the GPs, more flights, staying away from home for another two or three days each time.

“Now we have a very strong test team with Aleix and Taka, they are doing a fantastic job, because we also improved that area a lot compared to the last years. So I am really comfortable about this [change].”

With Honda race riders no longer eligible for the Sepang Shakedown test - aside from LCR rookie Diogo Moreira - Marini, Joan Mir and Johann Zarco will next ride their RCVs during the official MotoGP test from February 3-5.