MotoGP 2022
Focus on Honda
The 2022 MotoGP season went on for 20 record-setting laps and Honda supplied four of the 2022 model RC213Vs. The Repsol Honda team has had no changes to the riders since last season. Marc Marquez, recovering from injury, aims to come back strong. His teammate is Pol Espargaro. The only Japanese MotoGP rider Takaaki Nakagami competed for LCR Honda IDEMITSU and Alex Marquez represented LCR Honda CASTROL.
Honda’s drivers performed well in pre-season tests, with Espargaro setting the fastest time. In the opening round of the season, Qatar GP, Marc Marquez qualified for third and Espargaro in sixth. In the race, Espargaro got off to a good start and took the lead, he kept the lead until midway. He lost his pace towards the end and gave up the lead, but was still able to finish on the podium in third place. Marc Marquez finished in fifth, and it looks like Team Repsol Honda is off to a good start and will continue to improve on their poor performance from last year.
The second round, the Indonesia GP was held at Mandalika Circuit, the first time this track hosted a MotoGP event. Although Honda’s drivers performed well in the test held at the circuit in February, they struggled in the race due to unstable weather conditions, with the Espargaro finishing in second place. 12th. Marc Marquez was hit four times during freestyle and Qualifier practice, and missed the race. He also missed the next lap in Argentina, where test driver Stefan Bradl stood.
Marc Marquez was back in Round 4, the Americas GP, a race he had won seven of the previous eight. He struggled at the start of the race and dropped to last, but from there, a superb performance carried him up to sixth thanks to the checkered flag. His performance, a display of Marquez’s pinnacle of magic, captivated American fans.
In round 6, Spain, Marc Marquez finished fourth in a close battle to win the podium. Nakagami has been outside the top 10 since the start of the season, but he finished seventh in both the Spanish GP and the next round, the French GP.
Marc Marquez was aware of the condition of his right arm bone which he broke in 2020, but on May 28 at the Italian GP he announced that he would undergo a fourth surgery and withdrew from the race. From round 9 in Catalunya, Bradl will take his place.
With the departure of Marc Marquez, Honda’s difficulties are more obvious. In lap 10, Germany, collision injuries and heat problems with the bike led to a series of races that had to be canceled, and Bradl was the only one to finish the race in 16th place.
Honda continued to face difficulties, but in round 15 of Aragon, Marc Marquez came back. He started well in the race, rising from 13th to about sixth, but in the first lap he collided with Fabio Cuartararo (Yahama) and Nakagami, causing all three drivers to withdraw from the race. race, and Nakagami injured his right hand.
The Japanese GP was held at Honda’s hometown circuit, Mobility Resort Motegi, for the first time in three years. HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima made his MotoGP class debut in this event as a wildcard entry.
In the wet qualifiers, Marc Marquez, in just his second race back, surprised Japanese fans by taking his first pole position in three years. During the dry qualifiers, he strained more on his right arm, but still finished in fourth place.
Nakagami, at his home Grand Prix, finished in 20th place despite pain in his right hand from a collision at the Aragon GP. His injury worsened and he was forced to sit out of the 17th round in Thailand onwards, while Nagashima, who started 19th on the grid, finished his first DNF race.
Marc Marquez finished 5th at the Thai GP. In the 18th round in Australia, he made it through to the 2nd qualifying round in dry conditions and battled the lead group in the race for second place. This is the 100th time he has finished on the podium in the first division, a result that gives hope to Honda, which has struggled all season.
Nakagami returned to the track on the 20th and final lap in Valencia. In Qualifiers, Marc Marquez was the second fastest, starting in the front row for a third consecutive, but during the race he crashed and gave up, while Espargaro and Alex Marquez, in the final race Their match with Honda, also collided, leaving only Nakagami in 14th place to score . The bitter end of the race seemed to symbolize a disappointing season for Honda.
In the end, Marc Marquez finished the 13th season overall with a pole and a podium, despite missing seven races. Espargaro, when stepping onto the podium in the opening round, continued to struggle to finish 16th.
Alex Marquez finished 17th season overall and Nakagami 18th. Nagashima, who was given a wild ride to the Japanese GP and was a substitute in the three races Nakagami missed, didn’t score, but he did. He brought in a lot of data for the team as a test driver.
After strong pre-season tests and season-opening results, Honda had a tough season and failed to win a race in 2022.
Next season, Honda aims to rebuild its MotoGP force with Team Repsol Honda welcoming 2020 champions Joan Mir and Alex Rins to the LCR Honda CASTROL.
