From Lucky Strike Suzuki to Fiat Yamaha, some sponsorship/liveries just belong on the racetrack. Count the Repsol Honda team colors as chief among them. With legendary riders Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, and Marc Marquez riding for the Factory Honda squad, the Repsol team has claimed 15 rider titles in the past 28 seasons.
Admittedly, the outfit has struggled since the 2020 season. Yet, it remains one of the most coveted seats in the Grand Prix paddock. It looks like that convention will live on for at least two more years, as the Honda Racing Corporation and Spanish petrochemical company Repsol recently agreed to extend their partnership through the 2024 MotoGP season.
“It brings us great pride to once again continue our collaboration with Repsol, extending a long and fruitful partnership,” noted President of HRC Koji Watanabe. “With upcoming changes to fuel regulations, having a partner such as Repsol is key. Once again, we will work alongside them to achieve the best possible performance and results.”
In November, 2021, MotoGP organizing body Dorna, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), and IRTA committed to reducing MotoGP’s carbon footprint, mandating 40 percent of its race fuel to originate from non-fossil sources by 2024. The series will use 100 percent fossil-free fuel from 2027 onwards.
“Repsol have been working for years on decarbonization and developing renewable fuels as an efficient and sustainable alternative for mobility,” explained Repsol Marketing/Comms Director Marcos Fraga. “Being able to use top-level competition as a testing ground for our products in these circumstances is an even more exciting challenge.”
The deal may extend the fabled partnership for two more seasons, but the team will need to recover from its forgettable results in 2022. Marc Marquez also enters the final year of his current contract in 2023, increasing the pressure on the Repsol Honda team to deliver results immediately.
“Together we have celebrated good days and worked together to overcome the bad–we remain keenly focused on returning to the top of the World Championship and continuing to be the reference in the fields of technology and competition,” concluded Watanabe.