Nakagami’s Honda woes: “Four chassis, four strategies, couldn’t share ideas”

The Japanese manufacturer failed to score a point in Germany last year - the first time in 40 years they had done so in MotoGP - yet their issues have only worsened in 2023.

Nakagami was the only rider left standing at Assen - with Marc Marquez, Joan Mir and Alex Rins absent through injury.

Nakagami revealed that 2022 ended amid total confusion, telling Speedweek: “The four riders had different chassis and followed different development strategies. 

“Each crew chief applied different ideas. 

“We couldn't copy anything, we couldn't exchange data, we couldn't even share our ideas because all four had their own.”

Pol Espargaro was Marquez’s Repsol Honda teammate last season, while Alex Marquez and Nakagami were LCR Honda riders.

Nakagami insists that the manufacturer’s problems stretch back to a year ago.

“We started to suffer on some weekends, although not in every race,” he said. As a rider, I believe that the situation did not just arise in 2023, but is something that has dragged on since 2022.

“The 2021 bike was quite good. It was really competitive in some races. The 2022 bike was then a complete change of concept.”

Nakagami explains the differences: “The feeling. I got into MotoGP in 2018 and every year they changed the bike and brought a new bike. 

“The general concept has always remained the same, only the character of the engine has changed: the engine had more torque, different power delivery... The chassis and the feel of the front and rear wheels, on the other hand, remained the same.

“The 2022 bike was then very different on all levels. The chassis, the geometry, the feel of the front... 

“The bike has lost the Honda DNA, so I had to change my riding style, which I had learned four years earlier.

“I remember being very surprised. I first tested it in Jerez at the winter test after the last GP of the 2021 season. 

“After just the first lap I thought to myself: ‘Oh, that's a completely different bike.’

“The biggest problem was that we didn't have all the experience that we had accumulated over the years.”

Honda’s problems now mean they are battling to keep their star rider Marquez, while even newer recruits from Suzuki - Mir and Rins - are being linked with exits.