The crisis point Honda has reached in MotoGP after its Mugello hell

OPINION: Honda’s miserable 2023 season continued at the Italian Grand Prix, as crashes for Alex Rins and Joan Mir took both out of the round, and a tumble for Marc Marquez in the main race while fighting for the podium compounded the difficulties. At Mugello, Marquez had a meeting with top Honda brass about the reaction to its problems. What happens next will be vital in quashing fears of Marquez suffering more injury problems because of the RC213V

Last Sunday at Mugello, Marc Marquez met with Shinji Aoyama – the second-highest ranking executive at Honda Motor Company – to discuss the crisis that HRC is going through in MotoGP and to convey his frustration at the lack of a reaction.

The meeting took place at Honda’s motorhome, starting at 11am and lasting for 25 minutes. In addition to Marquez and Aoyama, who had arrived at the circuit by helicopter earlier that morning, the meeting was also attended by Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation – the racing division – which since last year has brought together both the motorcycle and car divisions.

PRIME: 10 things we learned from the 2023 MotoGP Italian GP

Marquez was accompanied by Jimmy Martinez, his manager. Tetsuhiro Kuwata, the HRC director, was only with them for the first five minutes, while neither Shinichi Kokubu, the top technical manager, nor Alberto Puig, the team manager, were present. After saying goodbye to Aoyama, Marquez went to the Honda garage to prepare for the race, of which he was only able to complete six laps before crashing out on lap seven while fighting for a podium place with Luca Marini – continuing a 100% grand prix non-finish record in 2023.

What could have been expected to be a complicated race for both Marquez and Honda ended up being a real disaster – yet another one – for the Japanese company and its main attraction.

On Friday it was Joan Mir who, after equalling his personal record of crashes since he has been competing in MotoGP of 12, decided to withdraw from Mugello due to a fractured pinky finger of his right hand. Honda announced on Tuesday that the Mir has not yet recovered from the accident and will not travel to Sachsenring for this weekend’s German GP.

Things got a lot worse on Saturday after Alex Rins shattered his right leg during the sprint race. Pending a second operation, which will be carried out on the Spaniard on Tuesday, Rins will not be back on the bike until after the summer break. With the two Spaniards out of action at Mugello, Marquez left LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami as the only Honda rider to get to the chequered flag in the grand prix, doing so in 13th.

The Spaniard has always been known for his ability to build a wall capable of camouflaging his mood, especially when he’s not going through a good moment. At Mugello, after crashing, he decided to lock himself inside the HRC truck before…