The hidden potential in Honda's home MotoGP weekend

Despite losing a rider to injury early on, Honda has plenty to pin its hopes on in Japan

The Honda MotoGP team's Japanese Grand Prix weekend did not exactly get off to a flyer.

The manufacturer came into Motegi with worries around its factory rider, Joan Mir, who remains absent due to a mystery illness. So it was looking to its wildcard, Takaaki Nakagami, for some cheer. After all, the test rider had the advantage of laps on the new track surface under his belt.

Those hopes were kicked into touch before the local man had even completed a lap on a damp Friday morning, however. Despite trying to take a cautious approach, Nakagami was caught out by the wet surface and flipped violently over the handlebars. A broken collarbone and a depressingly early end to his weekend was the outcome.

And yet, despite having lost a rider from the troops and a further trio of crashes later in the day, Honda was able to find its cheer after all. From Somkiat Chantra leading Free Practice 1 until halfway through the session, it was strange Friday full of little signs that will give it hope.

Chantra hints at Honda potential

Granted, Mir's stand-in Chantra was sharing the track with very few others as he topped the times in the early going. The circuit was drying and most of the field were firmly parked in the pits. And yes, he does have fond memories of Motegi after winning there in Moto2.

Still, this is a man who was propping up the field throughout his one and only MotoGP season in 2025. He hadn't ridden a MotoGP bike in preparation for this comeback. To some extent, his not being last in the early going was already a surprise that suggested Honda might indeed have some extra potential this weekend.

So too was the fact that he didn't slip down to familiar territory when the rest of the riders came out to play. Chantra finished the first session a more-than-respectable 14th, making his 19th in the afternoon look disappointing. But compared to last year, even that outperformed expectations.

Honda has not hit its ceiling in Japan

Looking further up the timesheets, there was more evidence that a good Friday could actually have been an excellent one for Honda. Perhaps not for the factory's Luca Marini, who has been off the boil of late and could only manage 17th-fastest time after an early crash in second practice. But the LCR duo of Diogo Moreira and Johann Zarco delivered hope in spades.

Their respective ninth and 10th positions were good by Honda standards, if hardly worthy of cracking open the champagne. But what makes them better than they might appear at first glance is the fact that both riders crashed at the end of the final Friday session. Both snuck into Q2 without even improving on their final runs.

Zarco's 'ideal lap time', which is the sum of all his best completed sectors, illustrated the potential nicely. While other riders' ideal laps usually keep them within a position of where they actually ended up, the Frenchman would have been seventh instead of 10th.

The man himself was under no illusions about what might have been, and what might still be, at Motegi.

"I was scared to lose the Q2," said Zarco. "So I'm happy to still be in Q2 for tomorrow, because I had the opportunity to improve two times, so I had this potential to save the Q2 with a better lap time... and I could not finish the lap to complete this."

The 2025 French GP winner is taking the good fortune of getting away with the mistake and running with it, as he looks forward to a significant step on Saturday.

"This was not frustrating... it made the hunger come up! And we have a good potential with the bike," he added. "I'm quite impressed, but I feel we have something to improve that can open a new door to make a very good lap time. I expect to get this for tomorrow, but if not, it will be tough, because the others are making improvements.

"We have a very good base, but we need to find a better setting to open new doors."

RC213V rocketships

Somkiat Chantra, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

When the racing gets under way on Saturday afternoon, it looks like the Honda riders will be well-equipped when it comes to overtaking and defending. At least if the speed trap figures from the first day's action are anything to go by.

Zarco and Moreira were already sitting pretty at the top of that list after FP1, but things looked even more convincing once the competitive action came around in the afternoon. The RC213V filled four of the top five positions through the speed trap - located on the run to Turn 11 - with only KTM's Enea Bastianini breaking up the party in third.

Down at the very far end of the practice top speed charts, you'll find the bottom four positions occupied by Yamahas. Hardly a surprise these days, but particularly embarrassing for Japan's other home manufacturer. And the embarrassment might just get worse if Honda manages to deliver on its potential over the weekend.