Team LCR has shown the Honda RC213V bikes it will use in the 2026 MotoGP season. The team will again use two different colour designs instead of making both bikes look the same. This is the final year before new technical rules arrive in MotoGP.

Johann Zarco will stay with the team and ride the Castrol-sponsored bike. Castrol is a British oil company, and the bike carries its well-known red, white and green colours. Zarco is one of the most experienced riders on the grid and continues to play an important role in Honda’s effort to move back to the front of MotoGP.

The second bike will be ridden by Diogo Moreira, who joins the top class as a rookie. He moves up after winning the Moto2 world title, which is the main support class to MotoGP. His bike will be backed by Pro Honda, the Japanese company’s own lubricants brand, which becomes the main sponsor of his machine.

This change comes after the end of LCR’s long partnership with Idemitsu. That sponsorship had been linked to the team running an Asian rider. For several years this role was filled by Takaaki Nakagami, and later by Thai rider Somkiat Chantra. Chantra did not get the results Honda hoped for, and Moreira has now taken his place. Chantra has since joined Honda’s line-up in the World Superbike Championship.

Last season brought mixed results for LCR. The Honda RC213V showed clear improvement compared to previous years, but it was still not easy to ride. Zarco started strongly and took an emotional win in the rain at the French Grand Prix, which was an important moment for both him and Honda. As the season went on, however, he found it harder to get the best from new parts on the bike. Even so, he finished the year as the highest-placed Honda rider in the standings.

Chantra managed a few finishes inside the top 15 but scored only a small number of points, partly because he missed several races through injury. LCR ended near the bottom of the team championship table, showing that Honda still has work to do to fight regularly at the front.

There is a lot of interest around Moreira as he begins his MotoGP career. Young champions from Moto2 often need time to adapt to the more powerful and demanding MotoGP bikes, but his title shows he has strong talent and race craft. He has already started testing and gaining experience with the Honda during pre-season running in Malaysia.

With LCR now presenting its bikes, attention turns to the factory Honda team, which will reveal its own colours soon. Pre-season testing at Sepang will give the first real sign of how much progress Honda and its riders have made for the 2026 season.