The signs that MotoGP's Japanese powerhouses are changing

Disappointment for Honda and Yamaha in MotoGP in 2022, combined with the successes of Ducati and Aprilia, has motivated the Japanese brands to break with their tradition of limiting themselves to operating from the inside to look for answers from external suppliers

Updated Mar 8, 2023, 8:56 AM

The arrival of Ken Kawauchi as Honda's new technical director, replacing Takeo Yokoyama, offers a perfect analogy of the metamorphosis that MotoGP's two Japanese giants are undergoing. Kawauchi, signed by Honda after Suzuki's decision to quit the series at the end of last year, asked Marc Marquez at the recent Sepang pre-season test to start on a bike that presented a look almost from the past: no wings.

"Ken wanted to check some things and see them with his own eyes," Marquez explained.

Predictable as the answers were from analysing the two laps Marquez did, Kawauchi wanted to draw his own conclusions. This same method applied on a larger scale makes it possible to understand the drifts that have prompted Honda and Yamaha to break with the external blockade that, until now, severely limited their collaboration with third parties.