SIC58 Squadra Corse has been competing in the Moto3 World Championship since 2017, and since its debut, its motorcycles have been supplied by Honda. The NSF250RW is not on the same level of competitiveness as the bikes from Pierer Mobility (CFMoto, GasGas, Husqvarna, and KTM), but even so, the team decided to renew with Honda last summer.
At that time, they were promised improvements to the bike. However, according to team owner Paolo Simoncelli, those promises were not fulfilled: ‘There’s something I want to criticize regarding the Japanese manufacturer to whom we have entrusted our results for years. When we renewed the contract in August, they promised us engine development and technical changes. Instead, the only improvements are thanks to Marco [Grana], who tries to make the bike as light as possible’, he told GPOne.com after the Portuguese GP.
Marco Simoncelli’s father mentioned that despite efforts in working with the bike, it always ends up not being enough to be at the level of the competitors: ‘You «shorten, tighten, pull» to put them (almost) on par with the KTMs. But when the resources are limited, you can pull here and there, but there’s something that remains uncovered. I thought the Japanese wouldn’t give us assurances if they weren’t sure, but I was wrong’.
The 15th place of rookie Luca Lunetta in the Qatar GP gave SIC58 Squadra Corse the only point in the first two races of the season. Honda bikes are used by four other teams, and except for Honda Team Asia, which is in eighth place, the others are in the last four positions of the standings.