Honda Thanks Day 2022: Too long and too short at the same time. But that's the game...

With names like Max Verstappen, Marc Márquez, Sergio Pérez, Pierre Gasly, Toni Bou, Ricky Brabec, Takaaki Nakagami, by Honda declined by Pol Espargaro, but the first edition in three years due to the global pandemic left us a little hungry…

For those brave enough to watch the event live from Europe, they first had to wait an hour and a half to see Xavi Verge win a mini electric motorcycle race in a very particular style, and a little over three hours (3h26 on the video) to see the luxury duo Marc Márquez - Max Verstappen ready to face their opponents in karting over 12 laps.

Marc Márquez : " I was lucky and my teammate is Max! I don't know why (laughs). We are going to have fun karting and I hope you enjoy the show. This will be the most important because we will try to give our best. »

Qualified 2th, Marc Marquez fought like a lion to take the lead from Max Verstappen. The rest, you can easily imagine…

 

 

There followed a demonstration of electric karts reserved for F1 drivers, a brief demonstration of Honda racing cars (excluding F1), a passage of the drivers in front of the stands in an open bus, a tribute to Max Verstappen who was offered a right-hand drive NSX type S, then, at 6:12 in the video, a brief tour of the circuit by Marc Marquez et Takaaki Nakagami on their racing machines.

 

 

The program then gave pride of place to automobiles, until the finale which, after more than 8 hours, brought together cars and motorcycles under the setting sun.

 

 

In conclusion, we would say that the event, although broadcast live, is not really intended for a wide audience, due to its excessively long downtime and its too brief action sequences. Rather, it is a sort of thank you to the Honda employees and Japanese ultra fans who came to Motegi. Moreover, it is clearly indicated in the name of the show, Honda Racing Thanks Day, so we are obviously not going to complain about something which has the merit of existing and which remains sympathetic, if not truly exciting...