Honda Racing Recap, August 5 to 6: Marquez Wins on Tactics

Repsol Honda captures 1-2 finish on clever tire strategy, while NSX wins in Japan at last after two years.

Honda motorcycles were back on the main stage, turning out a strong performance. The NSX also found action with both a nightmare weekend in the United States and a long-overdue win across the Pacific. Here are the whole stories.

MotoGP at Czech Grand Prix

Marc Marquez played a masterful game of tactics to take his second consecutive win at Brno, Czech Republic for Repsol Honda Team. After starting on pole, Marquez dropped through the field on a track that started wet. The Spanish rider came in before the front-runners to take slick tires.

As a dry line formed on the Czech circuit, Marquez ate up time while the front of the field struggled on fading wet tires. When those leaders pitted, Marquez assumed the lead and romped away to his third win this year. He leads the championship now by 14 points over Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales, who finished third at Brno.

Dani Pedrosa completed a Repsol Honda 1-2 with a solid second-place finish at the Czech Grand Prix. That helped vault the Honda squad past Movistar Yamaha for a four-point lead in the teams’ championship. LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow enjoyed a solid fifth-place finish for the privateer single-bike squad.

IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship at Road America

After a string of successful weekends, Michael Shank Racing suffered through a tough race weekend for the team’s two Acura NSX GT3s. A practice crash with Katherine Legge at the wheel required the Shank crew to make significant repairs to the #93 NSX. The team expected an overnight rebuild but instead had the car buttoned up in just six hours.

Starting from the rear of the field, Legge moved forward into the GTD class’ Top 10. However, contact with the #48 Lamborghini spun the NSX off the track. The #93 suffered a suspension failure that required a lengthy in-race repair and the car was later retired with significant damage.

The second car, the #86 ran a strong race on the back of Oz Negri’s opening stint. However, a tire puncture for Jeff Segal late in the race cost Michael Shank Racing the chance to salvage points for the day.

Super GT at Fuji Speedway

Honda ended a two-year winless drought in Super GT when Tomoki Nojiri and Takashi Kobayashi took the #8 ARTA Honda NSX-GT to victory lane. The Honda led the race from start to finish in dominating fashion, vindicating a tough performance in the last round at Sportsland SUGO. ARTA also took the GT300 class win with their BMW M6 GT3 for a rare double-victory in Super GT.

Honda returns to Super GT action on August 27 with the 1000 Kilometers of Suzuka.

TCR Germany at Nurburgring

Championship leader Josh Files pushed past polesitter Mike Halder in Race 1 of the weekend. Files’ Civic Type R TCR held for the victory despite relentless pressure from Halder’s SEAT Leon. That win added to the British driver’s championship lead.

A DNF for Files failed to add points him and no Hondas finished in the Top 5. However, Files leaves the fifth round at Nurburgring with 77 points in hand against Halder. Only two rounds remain in the championship.