Disappointing Show from Honda at 2022 MotoGP
MotoGP is always a nail-biting event and the 2022 season has been no different. There have been several twists and turns during the season, much like the tracks that the racers run on. Notable names in the MotoGP circuit have been unable to make a mark on the race this previous season. Perhaps, the most notable letdown has been for the Honda teams.
The 2022 MotoGP season has been a tough one for Honda. Honda was at the very bottom of the constructors' standings after securing only two podium finishes throughout the entire season. One does not expect such a poor show from a racing giant such as Honda. After all, viewers know them for bringing home a trophy in every race.
Thus, the Japanese manufacturing giant has acknowledged this shortcoming. To address this they have reshuffled the entire engineers and technicians team for the coming 2023 season.
Reshuffle of Notable Names
In what is the most notable reshuffle, Autosport magazine has got confirmation from Honda that Takaaki Nakagami's crew chief Giacamo Guidotti will be shifting very soon to Honda's factory team. Furthermore, he will function as crew chief to Honda's newest talent acquisition, Joan Mir from the 2023 season.
Moreover, former 125cc and 250cc racer Klaus Nohles will take up the mantle as the new crew chief to Nakagami. Nohles has been a regular in the Honda test team for the last three years. Of course, the territory is not completely unknown to him. He has already performed in a similar capacity during the Valencia Grand Prix in November. Guidotti was out of action owing to a cycling injury the Italian had to endure. Nohles took up his role and did a good job at it.
In some more breaking news, Ramon Aurin is moving on to become the new technical manager of Honda's test team. The veteran Honda engineer has previously worked with the likes of Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo as well as Pol Espargaro.
At first, Aurin was on track to be the new track engineer to Joan Mir. However, the number of tests has reduced. Moreover, the significance of test teams has increased. Thus, Honda decided to move the Spanish technician to coordinate the research and development group.
Former Names in Former Roles
As for the rest of the technical positions, Santi Hernandez remains as Marc Marquez's crew chief. However, LCR's newest signup, Alex Rins will be partnering with Christophe Bourguignon. He has been Alex Marquez's crew chief for the last two years.
Now coming to HRC's technical leadership, Shinichi Kokubu will again lead the RCV project. He has been absent from the MotoGP circuit for some time now but will take up his old role. Furthermore, Tetsuhiro Kuwata will also lead on as the general director of HRC and Shinya Wakabayashi remains HRC president.
Takeo Yokoyama, who has been the Technical Director for Honda for some time now, will take up a new role at Honda's headquarters in Tokyo. This means he will not be seen shortly at the MotoGP circuit in 2023.
In other news, MotoGP is back again from February 2023 when a shakedown test will be commenced from 5-7 February. The test will take place at the Sepang circuit. The official race is slated to take off on the same circuit on 10-12 February.
The Portimao circuit will then hold the final pre-season test on 11-12 March 2023. After that, the season officially opens with the opening race on 24-26 March at Portimao.
With only a couple of months to go, it remains to be seen if Honda gets the desired results from reshuffling its entire setup. They are not new to the MotoGP circuit and know the ins and outs by now. Analysts detect some method behind the madness, but only the final results will tell if the strategy pays off.