Huge Repsol Honda Livery Change Revealed for MotoGP 2024

Following quickly in the footsteps of Red Bull KTM, Repsol Honda has become the second MotoGP outfit to launch its 2024 team after the Sepang tests, but with more dramatic visual changes than the aforementioned Austrian manufacturer.

Repsol Honda Team

The impact of Marc Marquez’ departure on the Repsol Honda Team has been known, to some degree, for a while, as it had been rumoured since the end of last year that Red Bull would leave the team – in the end, it put its money in the Red Bull GasGas Tech3 team for 2024.

The factory Honda team’s 2024 launch shows that Repsol, the Spanish oil giant that has been the team’s title sponsor since 1995, has also withdrawn some of its financial support of the team. The company’s famous orange and red colours now take up much less space on the bike’s bodywork, mostly around the belly pan area and the back of the seat, while there is some space allocated for Repsol’s renewable fuels around the screen.

The majority of the bike is left for HRC’s corporate colours: red, white, and blue, with the latter having the greatest prominence.

There is also a reasonable amount of the bodywork that has been left unpainted, with bare carbon on-show instead. This has become a fairly major trend in Formula 1 in the past two years as teams try to minimise their respective cars’ weight. It has been reported since last year’s MotoGP Valencia Test that the 2024 RC213V is 8kg lighter than the 2023 bike, which was over the weight limit – it’s possible, therefore, that HRC is following F1’s recent, and controversial, weight-saving trend.

As well as a new livery for 2024, Repsol Honda will also have a new rider pairing, with Joan Mir now joined by Luca Marini.

Joan Mir said: “It’s amazing to be part of a team with such history and success in MotoGP, I am as excited to start this season with the Repsol Honda Team as I was the last one. These team launches are always really nice, especially to see what everyone thinks of the new design. I think the colours for this year are really different and very bold, certainly something unique from the team.

“We have had a positive first taste of the bike and five productive days in Sepang, now we have to look ahead to the Qatar Test and the race. Last year taught me a lot and I am looking to put everything into practice for this year to help the Repsol Honda Team return to where I know they can be. Let’s enjoy this moment and quickly prepare for the season that is to come.”

Luca Marini said: “For me it is an honour to join the Repsol Honda Team, when I was a young child I already had some leathers in their colours for racing minibikes. Now to be here, at the launch, in the leathers and with the bike – it is a dream come true, something from destiny.

“This bike looks really beautiful, the colours are something very new and I am proud to represent them. We are just at the start of our journey together, but I already feel a part of the team and…