"In the s**t" Honda MotoGP squad "a proper team", says Alberto Puig
Honda boss praises the Japanese marque’s resilience
Alberto Puig says Honda is “a proper team” because of how it is rebounding from being “in the s**t” in recent MotoGP season.
The Japanese manufacturer endured a torrid 2024 campaign, where it failed to score any higher than eighth in a race and only tallied up 75 points in the constructors’ standings.
But the 2025 season has started off much better for Honda, who sits second in the standings and achieved its first top five in two years last time out in Qatar when Johann Zarco took the chequered flag in fifth (which became fourth after a post-race penalty for Maverick Vinales).
Honda improving its MotoGP project
Encouragingly for Honda, it has consistently been a top six challenger this season and is in prime position to make even more gains with new technical director Romano Albesiano at the helm.
Puig says Honda now has “expectations” given the progress it has made, while praising it for having the qualities that make it a “proper team”.
“The bike has been improved, but we are still with things to come,” he told the MotoGP world feed during the Qatar Grand Prix.
“Of course, we are working on it and we are reasonably happy, but with expectations, which is important.
“We have expectations because we know what we can bring and this is important.
“We are happier, more enthusiastic, but when things are going wrong you cannot get depressed.
“And this is what defines a team: if you have bad results and you go down into the mud, then you are not a proper team.
“A proper team is when you are in the shit you have to survive and this is what is happening and what we are trying to do.”
Zarco has proved to be Honda’s leading light this season, with the Frenchman running sixth in the standings after four rounds.
The LCR rider is just 10 points behind VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, who is on a factory Ducati, while Zarco’s haul of 38 points is just 17 shy of his entire 2024 tally.
Luca Marini is the next-best Honda in 10th currently on 26 points and a best of eighth at the Americas Grand Prix, which is his highest finish in HRC colours.
Factory team-mate Joan Mir has had top 10 pace all year, but numerous crashes have left him with just 10 points down in 17th.
LCR rookie Somkiat Chantra is yet to get on the board and is one of only two riders to have raced in 2025 alongside injured world champion Jorge Martin not to have scored any points.
