Transforming Honda and Yamaha’s MotoGP fortunes won’t happen overnight.
Yamaha and Honda presently enjoy various technical advantages over their European MotoGP counterparts, thanks to this year’s revised concession system.
However, Aleix Espargaro, who experienced the previous concession system with Aprilia, cautions against seeing these perks—including private testing with race riders and exemption from the in-season engine design freeze—as a quick fix.
According to Espargaro, the crucial factor is time, and he suggests that it will take until 2025 for a noticeable upturn in results from the Japanese manufacturers. “They are concessions, not magic. You need time,” Espargaro emphasized when queried about the anticipated progress of the Japanese brands.
He anticipates seeing the fruits of last winter’s efforts in the upcoming season, pointing out that Yamaha and Honda began recruiting new engineers and developing new technologies that have yet to be implemented on the track.
Espargaro expresses hope that these developments will translate into improvements for Yamaha and Honda by the 2025 season. Currently, Yamaha and Honda hold the lowest ‘D’ concession ranking, entitling them to the full spectrum of benefits.
Ducati occupies the ‘A’ ranking, having accrued over 85% of the maximum constructors’ points, while KTM and Aprilia are in the ‘C’ ranking.
Yamaha’s best race finish this season stands at fifth place (achieved during the Jerez Sprint, initially third before Fabio Quartararo’s tyre pressure penalty), with a seventh-place finish at Portimao being their highest in a Grand Prix.
Honda, facing the absence of star riders Marc Marquez and COTA winner Alex Rins, has achieved a best race result of ninth (during the Jerez Sprint) and twelfth in a Grand Prix (Lusail, Portimao, Jerez).
Comparatively, at this juncture last year, Yamaha’s highest race result was third place for Quartararo at COTA, where former LCR rider Rins secured Honda’s sole victory of the season.
A year later, the leading Yamaha rider remains Quartararo, now positioned in twelfth (compared to eleventh at this time last year), while the top Honda rider is currently Joan Mir in sixteenth place (Takaaki Nakagami was seventeenth last year).
Regarding constructors’ points, crucial for determining concession rankings, both Japanese brands have experienced a significant decline thus far. Here’s the score for each manufacturer compared to the opening four rounds of last year:
- Ducati: 133 points (2024) / 137 points (2023) = -4 points
- KTM: 95 / 81 = +14 points
- Aprilia: 82 / 67 = +15 points
- Yamaha: 27 / 49 = -22 points
- Honda: 13 / 61 = -48 points
Opening four rounds of 2023: Portimao, Termas, COTA, Jerez.
Opening four rounds of 2024: Lusail, Portimao, COTA, Jerez.
Aprilia is the only factory with the same rider line-up 2023 and 2024.
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