After years of technical instability, muddled communication, and post-Marquez results drifting, Honda is finally returning to competitiveness. The 2025 season marked a quiet but radical turning point: the brand with the golden wings went from survival... to reconquest.
It is Johann zarco who was the first to send a strong signal. With a fourth place in Doha, a podium at Silverstone and a monumental victory at Le Mans, the Frenchman proved that the RC213V had teeth again.
His thunderous start to the season has put Honda in the sights... and the victory in France served as a psychological as well as an industrial trigger. "The first positive signs were already visible in May and June ", confirms Stefan Bradl, witness and actor of the recovery. Zarco's victory at Le Mans marked a milestone »
In the official HRC Castrol box, Luca marini et Joan mir have also finally emerged from the shadows. The former has been stringing together top 6 finishes since the Sachsenring, while the latter shone with a valuable podium in Japan.
A year ago, this would have been a fantasy. In 2025, it looks like a structured project.
Stefan Bradl: “ Acceleration has jumped, top speed is there. Before, it was exasperating at Honda »
Behind the scenes, one man took the blows and prepared the ground for renewal: Stefan bradlA test driver and living memory of HRC since 2011, he has experienced all the setbacks, from post-Marquez chaos to unfortunate experiments (hybrid swingarms, Kalex chassis, etc.).
But today, he says he is optimistic, especially since the arrival of the new engine in September: " Acceleration has jumped, top speed is there. Before, it was exasperating. » And above all, the burning fairing – the pilots’ thermal nightmare – is finally resolved.
But there is also and perhaps above all this: exit the era of the single pilot around which everything revolved. Gone is the dogma of “everything for Marquez.”
In 2025, the HRC changed its software. We're listening. Zarco, Marini, MirThe feedback is cross-referenced, the validations collective. Bradl sums it up: " There is no longer a number one. And that's a very good thing. »
But this turnaround is mainly due to Romano Albesiano, former technical brain ofAprilia, now responsible for the RC213V project. His arrival structured the aerospace, streamlined testing, and integrated Aleix Espargaró as a new asset of the test program. A discreet, but effective revolution.
Bradl don't hide it on motosan : "If we get another podium in 2025, it will be a huge signal. And in 2026, we'll be able to look Aprilia in the eye. In 2027? Fight for the title.. » Sounds crazy? Maybe. But the same thing would have been said about Ducati ten years ago.
Honda didn't just repair a motorcycle. He rebuilt a team, a method, a direction. And even if the results aren't yet dazzling, the curve is clearly upward. The RC213V is no longer a punishment. It's once again a promise.
