Marc Marquez's 2025 MotoGP title celebrations risked being at least a little embarrassing for Honda, given they were made possible in the first place by Marquez deciding two years ago to ditch the sad Honda RC213V bike in favour of a Ducati route back to title glory.
But the RC213V isn't sad anymore. In the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, a track owned by Honda, as Marquez went through the motions to get his seventh premier-class title rubberstamped, one of the Hondas constantly occupied the same part of the track in both races, after having split the two factory Ducatis in qualifying.
For all its struggles, Honda has won and has finished on the podium in recent years. But its showing at Motegi was still potentially the most impressive we've seen the RC213V be in a long time.
Joan Mir matched his career-best qualifying - having previously taken second on the impressive (and last) Suzuki GSX-RR in 2022 at Portimao - and he was closer to pole here than on that day, just 0.092s off. And while Honda riders have had to rely on using other bikes as a reference and source of slipstream for any good grid positions, he did this lap all by himself.
Luca Marini would've been up there, too, with a tidier weekend. Johann Zarco is playing catch-up, having just now been handed Honda's recent upgrades, but he too was at least generally in the mix. And rookie Somkiat Chantra was the best he'd looked all season by a comfortable margin.
Ducati was still ahead, but it was clear the Honda was either the second- or the third-best bike in MotoGP at Motegi (Aprilia clearly had more in its locker than it got to show) - and more importantly it was genuinely close to the benchmark rather than being reduced to fighting for scraps.
With recent upgrades including a new chassis and the lighter carbon swingarm - though both Marini and Mir have maintained those last two haven't been huge steps - the Honda now appears to be a bike that's pretty good at everything. In fact, at Motegi both riders highlighted corner entry as an area to work on - though the bike's performance during the weekend suggests it can't be that bad.
"Overall, the bike has improved in every area," Marini insisted. "Better turning; better stopping - but still not enough; much better wheelie phase compared to the past; traction, grip is a little bit better, still not fantastic but we can't complain."
"When you have upgrades, the normal thing is you get some advantage in something and some disadvantage in another thing, no?" said Mir. "In this case, we improved the connection with the rear tyre, we improved the aero, but we made worse the braking and going into the corner.
"We have to work on it - because before this bike was very good in that area, now we miss something in there. Hopefully we can work to make a better natural turning in the initial turn, and we will be very good."
The top speed, a major issue earlier in the season, looks to have been finessed with an upgrade on that end - certainly, the speed trap data from Motegi looked strong.
Honda's reputation as a bike that throws riders on the ground is gone, too. Mir and Zarco crash a lot - and Marquez probably would, too - but Marini has avoided shunting the RC213V all campaign, so has clearly proven it is not particularly unwieldy.
Vibration still comes up as a problem - and there's no official indication yet that Honda is further along in dialling it out - but it's either less debilitating or is covered up by the overall gain in performance.
Alex Rins, a winner with Honda during his eventually injury-derailed 2023 season and now in the doldrums at Yamaha, spoke of the Honda umprompted in his debrief - talking about being overtaken by wildcard Taka Nakagami, who then crashed out of a points-paying position.
"Impressive...it's unbelievable how much they improved, how fast the bike is in the straight, how much traction they have."
OK, so Rins probably envies every other bike on the grid, especially as of late that the Yamaha M1 has clearly been relegated to last place in the pecking order (understandably so given the focus is on the new V4 bike), but the Honda is clearly catching the eye.
And while Motegi is as home turf as it gets and also a logical fit for the RC213V, Marini - who already predicted earlier in the season the bike would make a big second-half step - is "very confident" it will continue to be good from here.
In a way, it would be strange if the bike hadn't improved, especially as Honda has benefitted from 'Rank D' concession status since that system's inception - meaning it is not bound by the engine freeze and can test with its regular riders at will. It's actually at serious risk of losing that 'Rank D' status for 2026; it needs to score less less than 35% of Ducati's manufacturer points over the season, and is currently at 35.9%.
But it's also clear the technical structure is healthier and more suitable for modern MotoGP - which, again, shouldn't be surprising given the level of investment, with the high-profile capture of Romano Albesiano last year (and the arrival of KTM engine guru Kurt Trieb to follow soon).
"It's not only Romano but [he is] one of the key persons, he came from Aprilia, he has some different ideas, different mind, between Italian and Japanese - which is, we're connecting together and listening to Romano's ideas, Romano also listens to Japanese engineers' ideas," said Nakagami.
"The feeling is really nice, it's more one team, and clearly this means the bike also looks more competitive: every circuit we are at least inside the top 10. This we couldn't repeat last season, but this year we achieved it many, many races."
And Nakagami himself came in for a lot of credit in being a crucial link within Honda - just like it was intended when he was converted to test rider status.
"I think it's much better because there is Taka in the test team," Marini said. "I don't have to complain about Stefan [Bradl, sole test rider last year], for sure, but Taka speaking Japanese, and also with a lot of speed, and some fresh feeling from the races of last year, is a really big advantage for us for developing the bike. He is doing a great, great job."
The RC213V still almost certainly won't be good enough to trouble Ducati over a full season in 2026, and it's not so relevant for 2027 - with the 850cc engines and the Pirelli tyres.
But it is relevant as a proof of concept and technical structure - and this is where Marquez, whose final seasons with Honda were consistently defined not just by his difficult injury recovery but by a constant frustration with the RC213V's development curve, should be a pertinent figure again.
Marquez is under contract with Ducati until the end of next year, and he obviously didn't put all cards on the table in terms of what he's thinking longer-term.
"You cannot write the future," Marquez said after securing the title. "Some try, but you don't know what will happen tomorrow. So just enjoy the moment, right now. This history will continue, and some day will finish - but right now, when it will finish, I will be at peace with myself. This will be the most important. Right now everything is done.
"This doesn't mean that the ambition is changing - I have the same ambition."
He's clearly enjoying his time at Ducati - and it will probably have the best chance of retaining him into the next regulations cycle - but Honda feels like the only manufacturer that can put up a real fight in that regard.
They did not part on bad terms and it was never painted publicly as a final goodbye. Marquez sounded in the immediate aftermath of the split like someone expecting to come back one day - and while that emotion will have almost certainly dulled after two enjoyable years in other surroundings, the sentiment seemed genuine.
Honda MotoGP boss Alberto Puig said earlier this year a Marquez return was "complicated" to think about, though obviously wouldn't rule it out.
It seems less complicated now. Honda should have not just the emotional connection, but the financial might to give Marquez something to think about - especially given the money he gave up by terminating his 2021-24 deal early. That didn't matter so much before because the project looked all wrong, but now it looks good.
It can make sense for Marquez. And as to whether it makes sense for Honda, answering that question in any detail feels not worthy of the digital ink.
