First Look: Honda reveals 2026 MotoGP livery amid intense rider market speculation
Honda has pulled the covers off of its 2026 MotoGP livery
The factory Honda MotoGP team has unveiled the livery it will race with for the 2026 season amid intense speculation over its rider line-up.
HRC comes into the new campaign off the back of a resurgence last year, where it won a grand prix with satellite partner LCR, as well as tallying up three dry-weather podiums.
The factory Honda squad was responsible for two of those, with 2020 world Joan Mir, who was third in Japan and Malaysia.
Honda’s progress last year has lifted it out of the bottom of the concession rankings.
It will field an unchanged line-up of Joan Mir and Luca Marini this year.
The 2026 season will mark the second for Honda’s title partnership with Castrol, who took over from Repsol last year.
This led to a drastic departure for the factory team’s colour scheme, which remains largely unchanged for the new campaign.
The 2026 season will also mark the last for Honda’s RC213V, as MotoGP enters the final year of its 1000cc regulations.
The RC213V debuted in 2012 at the dawn on the 1000cc engine regulations and went on to win six world titles with Marc Marquez between 2013 and 2019.
It will be replaced next year by the RC214V, as Honda changes the name of its bike to coincide with the new 850cc regulations.
Honda is also set for a major shake-up to its 2027 line-up, following reports that 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo has signed a deal with the Japanese brand.
HRC was at the centre of rider market speculation last year, with Jorge Martin and Pedro Acosta being linked to potential 2026 moves.
Though this never happened, Honda was always expected to be a major player in the 2027 rider market thanks to the progress it has made with its bike.
Honda has already firmed up its line-up at LCR, with Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira signed to long-term deals.
With Quartararo expected to take one factory team seat, Mir and Marini face an intense battle to make their case to partner the Frenchman in 2027.
Mir gave the teams its brace of podiums last year, but Marini was the more consistent campaigner, and his analytical approach to bike development has endeared him to the Japanese factory.
With a number of high-profile names on the market, Honda could also look elsewhere to find a team-mate for Quartararo.
Honda’s 2 February launch represented the final livery reveal of 2026, coming just a day before the official pre-season test begins in Malaysia.
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