Honda HRC Castrol Unveil 2026 MotoGP Colours and Renew Their Charge Forward

Honda Racing Corporation has officially revealed the Honda HRC Castrol colours that will carry Luca Marini and Joan Mir into the 2026 MotoGP World Championship, signalling continuity, confidence and a clear intent to build on the progress made over the past season.

One year on from the introduction of the Honda HRC Castrol factory team, the transformation within Honda’s MotoGP project has been unmistakable. Relentless development work throughout 2025 from engineers, partners and riders alike resulted in the RC213V delivering its strongest performances since 2019. That upward trajectory now forms the foundation for the 2026 campaign, with Honda firmly focused on refinement rather than reinvention.

Stability remains central to that approach. Marini and Mir enter their third consecutive season as teammates, a pairing that has matured into a well-balanced and proven combination. Their contrasting yet complementary riding styles have helped shape a more rounded development direction for the RC213V, allowing Honda to extract consistent gains across a wide range of conditions.

The partnership between Honda HRC and Castrol also continues to deepen. Now into its second full year, the collaboration has already yielded tangible technical benefits, particularly in performance optimisation through fuels and lubricants. Both parties head into 2026 determined to maintain the same pace of innovation as they chase further performance gains on track.

Marini arrives at the new season carrying momentum from a highly consistent 2025. His calm, methodical approach saw him regularly inside the top ten during the latter half of the year, missing out only twice as the Honda steadily improved. For 2026, the Italian’s focus shifts firmly toward podium contention and converting consistency into outright results.

Mir, meanwhile, takes renewed motivation into the season after delivering two standout podium finishes in 2025, including an emotional result on home soil for Honda at Motegi. The former world champion repeatedly demonstrated his raw speed and racecraft and is now determined to turn those flashes of brilliance into regular front-running performances as Honda’s competitiveness continues to grow.

Visually, the RC213V remains unmistakably Honda. The iconic red, white and blue return for what will be the bike’s final year in its 1,000cc form, with red symbolising racing passion, blue representing technical excellence and white standing for the fans. Castrol’s bold presence once again completes the livery, reinforcing a partnership that has become increasingly influential within the project.

The 2026 season also carries special historical significance for Honda, marking 60 years since the marque first entered the premier class. From the 500cc RC181 to today’s RC213V, that lineage includes 314 premier-class victories and more than 2,300 podium finishes across all categories, milestones that will be celebrated throughout the year.

Attention now turns to the first pre-season test at Sepang from February 3 to 5, where Honda HRC Castrol will begin final preparations before the opening round of the season. With the Thai Grand Prix set to kick off the championship from February 27 to March 1, the countdown to lights out is well and truly underway as Honda look to carry their hard-earned momentum into a pivotal 2026 campaign.

Luca Marini 10
Honda HRC Castrol
“It’s a pleasure to begin another season with Honda HRC Castrol. The progress we showed in 2025 was incredibly rewarding and all winter I have been working to improve myself and begin this new season in 2026. Our objectives are clear: to be there fighting near the front and take full advantage of any and all opportunities which are presented to us. Everyone in this project has done their homework over the winter and I am itching to get back on the Honda RC213V and ride again. In the last year of the 1,000cc we need to finish in a good way and enjoy the beautiful moments along the way.”

Joan Mir 36
Honda HRC Castrol
“Another beautiful bike that I am proud to ride, being part of Honda HRC Castrol is something very special. In 2026 we need to find the consistency we struggled with last year, we showed that both myself and the Honda RC213V have the speed and ability to make Honda HRC proud. These two pre-seasons test will be very important to prepare everything well for the start of the year, I am certain that all the Honda HRC engineers have been working diligently during the winter. There is no time to wait around, we need to be working from the first lap to achieve our maximum and return Honda HRC to where it belongs.”