World Superbike: Honda Ups Its Game For 2025

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The 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign looks like it's going to be one of the closest ever with six manufacturers all staking their claim this season. After Honda ended last season strongly, including taking a rostrum at Estoril with Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC), they will be hoping both the #7 and teammate Xavi Vierge can start the new campaign strongly. It's been a big change over the winter for the Japanese manufacturer, with a new suspension supplier coming in, as Honda looks for a positive start but also aiming to keep their momentum going.

In recent seasons, Honda have tended to start a season well or end a season well, but rarely have they managed to start and end a campaign well. In 2024, they were well off the pace when the season kicked off but made big steps throughout the season to be in a position where they could challenge for rostrums in the final few rounds; something they achieved with Lecuona standing on the podium at the Circuito Estoril. In testing, despite the #7's absence at Jerez through injury, it has looked as though Honda will start the season roughly where it ended 2024: a consistent presence in the top ten, perhaps challenging for the occasional podium. The next question is whether they can do in 2025 what they did in 2024 and take big steps throughout the season.

For the 2022 season, Honda had an overhaul of riders and suppliers, bringing in Lecuona and Vierge while opting to move to Showa suspension. There's been some change over the 2025 winter too, although less extreme as the rider line-up stays the same, as they move back to Ohlins suspension; the brand they used when they returned to WorldSBK as a full-factory team in 2020. It shows Honda's quest for success is still ongoing but they're leaving no stone unturned as they look to celebrate success in WorldSBK.

Vierge has been Honda's benchmark throughout January testing at Jerez and Portimao, with Lecuona missing the Jerez test and not being fully fit at Portimao through a winter training injury. Vierge was seventh on Day 1 in the dry in Spain and second in the wet on Day 2, before finishing P7 on Day 1 at Portimao and ninth on Day 2. Lecuona only tested in Portugal but was ahead of Vierge in the wet, although in the dry, the #97 was the faster of the two.

Both riders, throughout winter, gave their thoughts about the season ahead. Vierge stated at Jerez: "I'm really excited for a new season. My feeling was that, compared to last year, the base setup of the bike is a little bit better compared to 2024, which, at the end of the season, was quite good. I'm really looking forward to starting this new season and I hope to be fighting inside the top six and to make this last step to fight for podiums regularly."

Lecuona added when speaking at Portimao: "The first goal is to be 100% ready, mentally and physically. If I’m honest, the first goal is to give the same performance that we had for most of the end of last year; every race we learnt and improved. Finally, we got a podium. I don't want to say, 'every race on the podium', but I want to be there, the last one of the first group like last year."

Team Manager Jose Escamez was optimistic of success in 2025, saying in Spain: "I'm confident that we can keep the momentum that we've had since mid-season of 2024. I expect that we can keep improving which we've been doing lately. I think that it's not easy, of course, as the other manufacturers are going to be really strong as they have always proved. At the moment, I'm positive and I'm confident. The target is always to win but that's a really hard part of this job. As long as we can keep improving every time, it's going to be good."

During the team's season launch video, Escamez also revealed that there would be closer ties between Honda Europe and the manufacturer's test team. He stated when asked about European facilities: "Actually, we've had a logistical base in Europe since the very beginning of this project. It's true that this year we are going to increase this collaboration with Honda Europe, which will be more involved with our test team and the development of the bike. We are putting in extra effort with the aim of speeding up our work and the way we reach our goals."

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