Goodbye Rank D, Luca Marini earns Honda C-level concessions: lots of major changes!

After Honda’s all-round mess in the Sprint (Mir running into Marini), here’s the result in the Valencia GP. Luca Marini’s seventh place completed the goal chased all season: the Italian’s final points have allowed the Golden Wing to leave MotoGP concessions “category D” and move up a rung, taking C concessions for next year’s world championship. A step forward that further confirms a season of growth, but what changes now? It’s certainly not an insignificant shift! We went back to review the big differences.

The MotoGP concessions, made official on November 27, 2023, provide for four categories: A, B, C, D. In the latter were both Honda and Yamaha, but now only the Iwata manufacturer remains there, having finished last in the 2025 constructors’ standings. Honda, instead, moves up, with these immediate changes.

- The number of tires available for testing drops from 260 to 220
- Tests can now only be carried out by test riders, no longer by factory riders
- Private tests can only be conducted on three circuits, no longer freely
- The six seasonal wild cards remain, not subject to engine freeze: a maximum of three before the mandatory summer break and three after
- The engine allocation aligns with A and B manufacturers: 7–8 engines per season, no longer 9–10
- The engine specification is no longer free during the season, but frozen
- Only one aerodynamic update is allowed, no longer two

These are not minor changes at all! For now, however, Honda celebrates—this shift carries real significance, as Luca Marini emphasized at the end of the GP. “We needed this result, I wanted to get there. It seemed tough, since I didn’t feel well in the morning, but it shows this year’s progress. Thanks to the team and to Honda not only for this Grand Prix but for the entire season: the bike has improved and we’re already working for next year.” That work officially begins tomorrow, with the first tests geared toward 2026 that will wrap up this intense world championship year. With a new and major challenge on the horizon for Honda.