Alberto Puig to step down as HRC team manager in 2027, take on advisory role

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Alberto Puig will step down as team manager of Honda's factory squad at the end of the current MotoGP season to become an advisor to the Japanese manufacturer.

The news comes less than a week after it emerged that Davide Brivio, currently team principal at Trackhouse and previously a senior executive at Yamaha and Suzuki, will leave the American outfit at the end of the year to join HRC from 2027.

However, Motorsport.com understands that the role Honda has assigned to Brivio will not be that of team manager, but instead be more closely related to marketing and commercial activities.

"After almost a decade as team manager for Honda HRC’s factory MotoGP team, Alberto Puig will take up a key advisory role for Honda HRC from 2027," read a statement from Honda.

"Honda Racing Corporation will continue to utilise Alberto Puig’s four decades of grand prix racing experience as the 59-year-old Barcelona-native transitions to a new role within Honda HRC.

"Appointed team manager of Honda HRC’s factory team in 2018, Puig guided the squad to back-to-back triple crowns. The new role will see Puig continue to assist Honda HRC management and staff with a number of tasks across all of Honda’s two-wheeled racing activities.

"As HRC advisor, Puig will continue to help shape HRC’s youth development programmes while simultaneously bolstering Honda’s efforts in the MotoGP and WorldSBK championships by supporting management staff and riders by assessing the overall picture of Honda HRC’s two-wheeled activities."

Puig, 59, succeeded Livio Suppo in the role he has held since 2018. The Spaniard’s connection with Honda has always been particularly strong, both during his career as a rider and after his retirement in 1997 following the serious crash he suffered at Le Mans in 1995, which left his left leg badly injured.

Luca Marini, Honda HRC