ning next year's bikes before the
current one is finished. These
are the slow-coaches, in the low-
est category of the concession
system, level
D. Which is to say
Honda and Yamaha, the long-
time twin giants of grand prix
racing brought low by a decade
or more of merciless European
fight-back.
The concession categories
aim to help struggling construc
-
tors while holding back runaway
winners.
To make racing more
equal. Updated twice yearly,
they depend on points scored by
a factory's best finisher. Score
more than 85 percent of avail
-
able points, and you are Cat-
egory A. Or to put it another way,
O
ne door closes, another
one opens. So, they say.
In MotoGP, one season
ends, another begins. This is
literally true: one day of rest,
then 2026 begins on Tuesday,
straight after the last race of
2025.
For some manufacturers, the
seasons overlap. They start run
-
P120
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
HAs HONDA BEEN
TOO SUCCESSFUL FOR
ITS OWN GOOD?
Honda has
been progressing
well as of late,
but could that
be a bad thing
for them?
