Christmas Appointment" for Nakagami: Honda prepares a double revolution

In recent days, Takaaki Nakagami carried out tests with the RC-V at Sepang. Honda has a demanding two-year period ahead of it.

An important test given the double challenge awaiting Honda. Takaaki Nakagami was indeed in Sepang for a few days of testing with the RC-V, at the end of a year that will kick off a season full of changes. Leaving concession rank D for C brings a lot of new rules, as other manufacturers know well: they initially took the hit, then got back on track. Honda wants to return to the top without any assistance—both LCR and the factory team have said as much—but they also need to think about the major revolution coming in 2027. We’ve already heard the first roar of the 850cc engine; it’s time to start preparing everything around it to be ready.

“A Christmas appointment with a MotoGP bike at Sepang.” That’s how Takaaki Nakagami described his recent test at the Malaysian track, with a little ‘rebuke’ for his fellow test rider. “Aleix Espargaro, where are you?” One thing is certain: both of them will have plenty of work to do, with an eye on 2026 and especially 2027. Let’s remember that next year Honda will already have to face a radical change: fewer tires available for testing, which will now be limited to test riders and no longer include factory riders, as well as not being completely free as they have been up to this year; and the number of engines available will be aligned with what Ducati, Aprilia, and KTM have long had, with one spec frozen (all the details here).

Honda, after the backward slide that began with Marc Marquez’s injury at Jerez 2020 and turned into a real shipwreck, wants to get back to the front of MotoGP. It’s never easy to climb back up in such a fiercely contested category, but leaving the bottom tier of concessions is already an encouraging sign for the Golden Wing. It will also be very interesting to see what the 850cc bike will be like for MotoGP’s new era. Everyone will start from scratch, with a new machine and Pirelli tires, and it’s not so far-fetched to predict a few surprises right from the start.