We all can marvel at the amount of factory riders and teams in 2026, new brands in recent years and the MXGP championship, clearly in a good place. Something very special though is the arrival of Petronas to the HRC factory team. A huge sponsor for the sport and no doubt, the attraction of worldwide coverage via the Infront television network, and the hugely professional HRC set-up makes companies like Petronas interested.

HRC ran a brilliant press conference last week and of course, the head of group marketing and customer excellence for Petronas, Alessandro Orsini was involved and answered a bunch of questions. As did team owner, Giacomo Gariboldi, and team manager, Marcus Pereira de Freitas. David Bulmer, the HRC media fella asked the questions.

David Bulmer: Joining me on stage now is Alessandro Orsini from PETRONAS Lubricants International and he’s the Head of Group Marketing and Customer Excellence. Mr. Orsini, please tell us about how it came about that PETRONAS Lubricants International and Honda HRC got into this partnership and what it means for your company to be part of the Motocross World Championships now?

Alessandro Orsini: Thank you for the question. As PETRONAS Lubricants International, we are extremely proud to have this collaboration with Honda HRC because we like to excel in motorsport to show our technology capability and we think that Honda is the best partner in order to do that. And moreover, as a company, we see in this collaboration the opportunity to co-develop fluid solution, not only for excelling in the performance during the race but also to migrate such experience from the track to the road. And this is really something exciting that we want to do together with Honda.

Bulmer: And what are your hopes for the partnership? What do you hope to get out of this partnership as a company?

Alessandro Orsini: Yeah, working together and to stay hand in hand in doing things like lubricants and testing them together, it’s a great opportunity also to promote our power brand PETRONAS Sprinta. PETRONAS Sprinta is the point of reference for the bikers about our lubricants and so we think that with this partnership we can promote further our brand and to become more successful in the open market. So this is one of the ambitions we have, and I think this collaboration with Honda will help us in this mission.

Bulmer: Thank you very much. We also have Taichi Honda who’s a General Manager of Race Operations Management Office, Mitsuharu Funase, General Manager of Race Planning and Operation Office, Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Manager, and Marcus Pereira de Freitas, General Manager. Mr. Funase, what does this mean for Honda HRC to be able to get a company of such stature like PETRONAS Lubricants International?

Mitsuharu Funase: I’d like to thank PETRONAS Lubricant International for joining us on this historic day. And we look forward in successful and exciting partnership ahead. Thank you very much.

Bulmer: Marcus, how did this partnership come about? What first got you guys together to bring about this joint effort?

Marcus Pereira de Freitas: Yeah, first of all I want to thank you so much PETRONAS Lubricants International for joining us this year. And I think we should share the same goal and I think the same vision, and hope to have a successful winning season.

Bulmer: Honda HRC hasn’t had an official sponsor since it returned to the GPs. Why now? And why—what was the significance of this?

Marcus Pereira de Freitas: PETRONAS Lubricants International has been a very successful brand around the world, I think joined with HRC, I think this is the great time to show the world that also in motocross have a field for us to grow together, and I think that that is the success and I think this is the main goal for that collaboration.

Bulmer: Giacomo, how proud does it make you to—to know that the work that you’ve put in has helped get Honda HRC to this position where you can attract sponsors like PETRONAS Lubricants International?

Giacomo Gariboldi: Yeah, you know it’s absolutely fantastic to be associated to a brand like PETRONAS Lubricants International. Thank you very much. Because as we know it’s associated with the best motorsport team in the world like in F1, has been associated with top teams in MotoGP, so to be now together in motocross it’s a big achievement for the team and we hope to deliver the results you need.