Repsol officially end partnership as title sponsor of Honda in MotoGP
Repsol have decided not to renew their partnership with Honda in MotoGP, bringing one of MotoGP’s most successful partnerships to its’ conclusion at the end of 2024.
The announcement that Repsol will not renew their partnership with Honda, comes after a racing weekend where neither Repsol Honda riders participated in the San Marino Grand Prix.
Repsol is a Spanish energy and petrochemical company that first partnered with Honda in MotoGP back in 1995. Together, the iconic: “Repsol Honda” team had seen many famous riders come and go from the team, riders such as Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Mick Doohan, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden to name a few of the incredibly talented and successful riders who have joined the team over the years.
However, Honda has struggled greatly throughout the 2020’s, with one of the major flashpoints in the relationship with Repsol being the departure of eight-time World Champion, Marc Marquez.
Marquez had dominated the mid-late 2010’s of MotoGP, finishing on the podium in almost every single race of the 2019 season. But, after an injury in 2020, Marquez’s involvement with the Repsol Honda team came to a standstill, as did the Japanese manufacturer, who refused to develop the bike without their main rider.
Due to Marquez not actively racing, the team would find themselves going further backwards in each and every season of MotoGP, with Repsol’s sponsorship also getting smaller each season on the bike, particularly in 2024, where the Repsol name can only be found on the bottom panel of the bike, rather than on the sides and on the front of the bike, in years prior.
The Repsol Honda team has not taken a victory since the 2021 season, and as Marquez left to go to Gresini Racing, it appears that Marquez has no plans of returning to Honda anytime soon, as he prepares to join the Factory Ducati squad in 2025.
Currently, it is unclear as to whether Repsol will remain on the MotoGP grid in a different capacity, such as being a personal sponsor to Marc Marquez, but the damage that Honda’s recent reputation has brought, seemingly took its’ toll on the Spanish company.
In a statement from HRC, they revealed: “After 30 years of collaboration at the highest level of motorcycle racing, Honda Racing Corporation and Repsol will part ways at the conclusion of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship.
Honda HRC and Repsol have enjoyed a partnership which has become synonymous with success at the highest level. Going beyond sponsorship, it has been a true collaboration between both companies, striving to continue as the reference in Grand Prix motorcycling.
Debuting in 1995, the Repsol Honda Team achieved immediately success and won the Premier Class World Championship that same year. The following three decades have seen the collaboration between Honda HRC and Repsol claim 15 Premier Class World Championships, 10 Premier Class Team Championships, 183 Premier Class wins and 455 Premier Class podiums.
