Honda’s first lightweight 1-2 since 2005

At Assen on Saturday, Honda celebrated a one-two finish in the lightweight class as a chassis-engine combination: its first since the 125 Australian Grand Prix of 2005.

In recent times, the Moto3™ class has been dominated by Austrian manufacturer KTM which (as a chassis-engine combination) won the last four Grands Prix of 2012, every single race in 2013 and the first six of this year – 27 in total.

However, courtesy of Emilio Alzamora’s Estrella Galicia 0,0 team and rider Alex Marquez, Japan’s Honda has now won back-to-back with its new bike. Not only that, but Alex Rins’ second place in Holland sealed a one-two result for Honda.

Prior to the success in The Netherlands, the last Honda-powered one-two finish was that of Maverick Viñales and Romano Fenati, who finished first and second in the 2012 Italian Moto3™ race at Mugello. However, on that occasion the riders were at the helm of FTR-Honda machinery and not full Honda entries.

In fact, for the last all-Honda one-two as frame and engine supplier, one has to look as far back as 2005 and Phillip Island, as Switzerland’s Tom Luthi and Japan’s Tomoyoshi Koyama finished one-two in the Australian 125 Grand Prix.

All of the Grands Prix mentioned can be reviewed in full through the links below.