MotoGP, Honda and Yamaha the decline of Japanese manufacturers – Corriere.it

In other times with that micro fracture in his thumb, a consequence of yet another crash, Marc Marquez would have raced. On Sunday, however, the Spanish champion threw in the towel, aware of a useless effort and excessive risk. In other times, the Catalan phenomenon wanted to get back on the saddle at all costs, just a few days after the first operation on his right arm. An unfortunate choice as we have seen, but it was 2020, other times indeed, when Honda feared no rivals and he won hands down. From then on, everything changed. Now Marquez no longer wins, his bike throws him off like a wild horse, the Honda languishes at the bottom of the standings. In the company of the Yamaha that not even Fabio Quartararo’s class is able to bring to the podium area anymore.

The era of Japanese motorcycles has perhaps reached a turning point. Returning to the top is the obligatory route, a matter of emblem and image which necessarily reflects on technological capabilities and ultimately on sales. The alternative, which many fear, is withdrawal from MotoGP. Suzuki decided that last year, Honda maybe thinking about it. The ranking is the crude image of a reality that was unthinkable until a few years ago. Honda has racked up 81 points in seven races, Yamaha 68, Ducati stands out at the top of the World Championship with 248 points, followed by Ktm (125 points) and Aprilia (99 points). European manufacturers have become the first force, and not from today.

In Germany, the first Japanese bike to finish was Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha (12th), the first Honda that of Nakagami (14th); to find such a depressing result you have to go back to the 1968 Yugoslav GP, when the only Japanese bike, Terry Dennehy’s Honda, didn’t even make it to the checkered flag. Where does this slump in performance come from? «The working method has changed, but the Japanese understood it late – explains Livio Suppo, former team manager of Ducati, Honda and Suzuki -. Ducati has imposed a modern system. The engineers are in charge in the pits, the relationship with the racing department is direct and constant, while the Japanese pay the distance from their technical offices given that most of the races take place in Europe. And then they have focused too long on the now obsolete figure of the chief mechanic, to direct operations on the track”.

But there’s more. «The responsiveness and ability to develop new technical areas such as aerodynamics caught them off guard. Ducati has invested heavily in wind tunnel research (to study the effects of air flows on the behavior of the bike, ed), Ktm relied on the expertise of Red Bull (joint sponsor) in Formula 1. Aprilia rolled up its sleeves and the results showed». Honda reluctantly followed this path and Yamaha moved late. But what seems evident is the difficulty of returning to being an innovative force. At the dawn of the four-stroke engine revolution, Honda made its debut with a 5-cylinder, son of the enormous technical baggage that Hrc had also accumulated in F1. On the other hand, a giant that sells 17 million motorcycles a year also had the economic strength to make a difference. Yamaha entrusted the renewal to Valentino Rossi and an open-minded engineer like Masao Furusawa. This combination has brought victories and titles, until the innovative drive has run out.

What could happen from here on out? «Perhaps the Japanese should bring their racing departments to Europe and trust the Europeans – concludes Suppo -, as Nakamoto, vice president of Honda Racing, had intuited, which he entrusted to an Italian (precisely to Suppo, ed) the leadership of the team. Due to a cultural limit, however, I doubt that they will do it ». Meanwhile Marquez, after the clarification with the Honda top management at Mugello, is calling for a decisive turnaround. «Positive meeting yes, but I want a reaction in the immediate future».