The Latest Breaking News from Honda

The MotoGP title battle has intensified after Jorge Martin romped to a double victory at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix. Having already dealt significant damage to Francesco Bagnaia’s championship lead in India after the factory Ducati rider crashed out of the grand prix, Martin twisted the knife in Japan.

For 2024, the Honda X-ADV will get minor updates, which involve the position of the light and a revision to the exhaust system for better ground clearance and passenger accommodation.

Speculation regarding Marquez’s future has dominated headlines in the past month, amid question marks over whether the Spaniard will see out his Honda contract in 2024.

After finishing seventh in Saturday’s sprint race, Marquez took advantage of the wet conditions on Sunday to finish third behind title protagonists Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, scoring his first top-three result since last year’s Australian Grand Prix.

Pramac Ducati rider Martin followed up his sprint win on Saturday with another virtuoso display to grab his second grand prix victory in three rounds, and his third of the season, albeit with just 12 of the scheduled 24 laps being completed.

Thai rider Chantra scored only his second career win, and his first of 2023, in a dominant display from pole position, as he led every lap to lead a one-two for Honda Team Asia ahead of Ai Ogura.

Going through its worst-ever phase in grand prix racing, Honda has had to resort to changes in its technical line-up in a bid to keep hold of star rider Marquez.

Italian rider Bassani's move to Kawasaki, where he will replace Yamaha-bound Jonathan Rea, was finally made official on Friday on the eve of the penultimate round of the season at Portimao.

Pramac Ducati rider Martin was never truly threatened at the head of the field, easing away from the chasing pack over the course of Saturday's 12-lap contest to record his fifth sprint race win of the season.

Martin posted a 1m43.198s on his first run in Q2 on Saturday morning to beat Brad Binder's Friday benchmark, which in turn surpassed Jorge Lorenzo's 2015 record, by almost three tenths of a second.

Sato, previously head of development for the Honda RC213V, will start in his new role as general technical director on October 1, the same day the Japanese Grand Prix takes place at Motegi.