The development concessions have not yet translated into results for Honda in MotoGP. Despite radically altering the bike, the performance of the RC213V seems to have even worsened compared to the competition, with even the points-scoring positions out of reach.
TV pundit Neil Hodgson spoke about the challenging reality Honda is facing, stating to TNT Sport: ‘They are in a big hole, a huge hole. The way they’ve started the season is so far off the pace. In America, the four Hondas were the back four. It’s one thing to be slow, it’s another thing to be slow and crash. What that tells you is that the riders are still pushing, still giving it everything. And crashing. To crash out from last place almost sounds like a joke but that’s the position they are in’.
Hodgson’s recommendation is for Honda to focus on the future from now on, using the Grand Prix races as opportunities to accelerate the bike’s development:
– They have to write this season off. They might as well, in my opinion, try things every weekend. They have to. To fast-track. We know they’ve got concessions so they’ve got more testing anyway, but they might as well use tyres for the race weekends as testing. Because they won’t finish anywhere in the championship, they are nowhere. That’s how I see it.
After the first four rounds, the Honda teams (Repsol Honda and LCR Honda) are in the last two positions of the championship. In the constructors’ standings, Honda is last with only 13 points, being the only manufacturer that has not scored points in all Grand Prix races so far.