The End of an Era
Circuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaThe 2024 MotoGP World Championship season came to a close after 20 rounds, 40 races and countless hours of work and with it, the end of the most iconic partnership in all of motorsport.
After 30 years, 15 World Championships, 183 Victories and 455 Podiums in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, the Solidarity GP marked the end of motorsport’s most iconic collaboration between Repsol and Honda HRC. Achieving immediate success in their very first race together with Mick Doohan back in 1995, the Repsol Honda Team has witnessed the likes of Doohan, Alex Criville, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez lift World Championships with countless other riders clinching wins, poles and podium finishes.
The final race of the year brought with it a sombre mood as the paddock gathered together one last time to race for the people of Valencia. Determination remained as high as ever inside the Repsol Honda Team garage as both riders left pit lane just ahead of the last 24-laps of the year.
A content Luca Marini left the final race of his debut season as a Repsol Honda Team rider reflecting on the progress made over the course of the year. With this in mind, his 16th place finish was proof of this progress at a track which has always been a challenge for the Honda RC213V. Marini’s first year as a factory Honda rider can be marked proudly with his improvement and growth throughout the season.
Joan Mir was again impressive as the lights went out, charging ahead from 13th on the grid to throw himself into the midst of the top ten battle. Leading the chasing group and pushing his limits to close the distance to the riders ahead. Unfortunately, a fall while pushing hard under braking would end his race. He was unharmed in the crash.
Honda HRC would like to thank everyone from Repsol who has been involved in the project for their 30 years of hard work, support and collaboration. Honda HRC wishes Repsol all the best in their future business and sporting endeavours.
The key point of today is to compare our performance from May to today, and I think when we do that, we can see that we have made a good step forward. Barcelona is always a tough circuit for us, so this limited our performance a bit today. This year has been all about making progress, both with the bike and with myself – there is still more to do but we are going in the correct direction. I am looking forward to this winter to keep working on the project that we have started and attacking again in 2025, to help Honda return to the top.
The key point of today is to compare our performance from May to today, and I think when we do that, we can see that we have made a good step forward. Barcelona is always a tough circuit for us, so this limited our performance a bit today. This year has been all about making progress, both with the bike and with myself – there is still more to do but we are going in the correct direction. I am looking forward to this winter to keep working on the project that we have started and attacking again in 2025, to help Honda return to the top.
I was pushing incredibly hard during the race after making a good start, I was feeling good and doing everything I could to close to the group in the top ten. Finally, I pushed too much, and I fell which is a big shame because we can see that there were good points on the table. Everyone is working hard to come back, and today I wanted to show that I am 100% committed to being fast and to fighting for everything possible. We now start to look to 2025 already, first with the test on Tuesday before some more outings before the end of the year. Our work does not stop, we keep on doing everything we can.
I was pushing incredibly hard during the race after making a good start, I was feeling good and doing everything I could to close to the group in the top ten. Finally, I pushed too much, and I fell which is a big shame because we can see that there were good points on the table. Everyone is working hard to come back, and today I wanted to show that I am 100% committed to being fast and to fighting for everything possible. We now start to look to 2025 already, first with the test on Tuesday before some more outings before the end of the year. Our work does not stop, we keep on doing everything we can.
Today I feel has been my last race as a MotoGP rider and I am happy with everything that I have accomplished here in the World Championship. I have a lot of good memories and moments from all these years and it was nice to come full circle at the track I made my debut at. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey as I enter a new stage. I am eager to continue working with the Test Team to improve the performance of Honda and I’m looking forward to working closely with Aleix and Taka.
Today I feel has been my last race as a MotoGP rider and I am happy with everything that I have accomplished here in the World Championship. I have a lot of good memories and moments from all these years and it was nice to come full circle at the track I made my debut at. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey as I enter a new stage. I am eager to continue working with the Test Team to improve the performance of Honda and I’m looking forward to working closely with Aleix and Taka.
