Honda on the brink of losing MotoGP's top concession perks

Honda’s steady improvement in recent races has left the manufacturer just 19 points short of dropping out of MotoGP’s highest concession bracket.

After the final two rounds of the 2025 season at Portimao and Valencia, the position of each of the five manufacturers in different concession tiers will be recalculated. 

Since the system was reintroduced in November 2023 to balance development opportunities between different manufacturers, the rankings have remained unchanged.

Ducati, Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Yamaha are segregated into four groups that offer varying levels of technical freedom.

Ducati's dominance has placed it firmly in Group A, where it faces the most restrictions of any manufacturer. No manufacturer currently occupies Group B, nor will any enter it, regardless of the final results.

Aprilia and KTM remain in Group C, while Honda appears on course to join them if it collects at least 19 more points across the remaining two rounds - something that seems highly probable.

Yamaha, like Honda, is currently in Group D, where the least restrictions are imposed. The Iwata-based manufacturer can also theoretically move up to Group C, but it's unlikely that it score 64 of the available 74 points to make the jump.

Under the current regulations, concession status is reviewed twice per season - at the halfway point and at the end - based on the percentage of total constructors’ championship points earned. The scale is as follows:

• Group A: ≥85% of points
• Group B: ≥60% and <85%
• Group C: ≥35% and <60%
• Group D: <35%

Joan Mir, Honda HRC

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

With two grands prix remaining and 74 points still up for grabs, Ducati has already secured the championship with 708 points, having scored 95.6% of the 740 points available so far. This guarantees it will remain in Group A.

No other manufacturer has reached the 60% threshold, ensuring there will be no entrants in Group B. Aprilia (47.9%) and KTM (43.9%) remain comfortably within Group C territory, far from the 60% threshold needed to move up to the more restrictive Group B. That leaves Honda, which currently sits on 266 points - 36.9% of the total - right on the edge of a promotion to Group C.

If the Japanese marque fails to score over the next two rounds in Portimao and Valencia, that figure would drop to 32.6%, keeping it in Group D. But given its recent form, that scenario looks unlikely.

Earlier in the season, there were several races where Honda scored fewer than 19 points: Aragon and Mugello (14 points each); Mugello and Assen (nine points each); Assen and Sachsenring (17 points) and the Czech Republic and Austrian GPs (16 points each). However, since August's Red Bull Ring event, the Tokyo-based brand has accumulated 19 or more points at each round, even scoring podiums at Motegi and Sepang. 

This means Honda could lose many of the advantages it has enjoyed under the concessions system since the beginning of 2024. Yamaha, meanwhile, doesn't appear to be at a real risk of being pushed up to Group C, having only accumulated 29.8% of the possible points so far - far short of the 35 per cent requirement.

For a late move up to Group C, it would need to score 64 points between Portimao and Valencia, something it hasn't managed all year, not even by combining its three best results: Jerez, Sachsenring, and Barcelona, ​​with 20 points in each.

MotoGP 2025 Constructors' Standings:

How MotoGP's concession system works

* Wildcards are not subject to the freezing of engine specifications. A maximum of three is allowed before the summer break and another three afterwards
** One previous aerodynamic specification must be discarded.