Max Verstappen guest of Marc Marquez

Max Verstappen stars at Honda Thanks Day

Max Verstappen was the big headliner at Honda Thanks Day, a traditional event that sees Japanese fans flock to the Motegi circuit to congratulate the Japanese brand’s drivers, who perform activities and take the controls of the Asian giant’s many vehicles of all kinds.
The two-time F1 world champion was the luxury guest but along with him were his teammate Checo Pérez, Alpha Tauri drivers Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, and of course the Japanese stable’s driver par excellence Marc Márquez but also Takaaki Nakagami.

The Dutch champion got on the MotoGp bike but did not ride it. He did, however, try out a Honda Civic, as well as received a gift of an NSX Type-S from the president of HRC. On the sidelines of the event, Verstappen made a few statements, “It was like a dream come true. It was a dream come true for the whole team. Also, we did it in Suzuka, so I’m very proud,” he said about winning the World Championship.

“I had reached the limit in the simulator, but yesterday was my first experience and it’s a nice circuit. Of course, I usually watch MotoGP here, but yesterday I got to ride a Super GT a little bit and it was a great experience. It was very nice. It has very good brakes. The power, compared to a road car, is also incredible. When I was driving it I always had a smile on my face,” he commented on the experience of driving a Super GT.

“Of course this year has been great. I know it is very difficult to do even better, but surely that is the team’s goal, to do better. And we will focus on that. We hope for another great year,” the Red Bull driver continued.

“It’s amazing to see the support, in general, from the Japanese fans. I know when we go to Suzuka there are a lot of fans, but everywhere we go is great,” he said about the Japanese fans.

“We had a lot of power, you could see it. That helps a lot. Of course it contributed to all the success we had this year. It’s a great feeling. It was a great year, it was even better. To win two titles with Honda, with all the efforts they’ve made over the years, it’s an incredible feeling,” explained the two-time world champion.

“It’s a fantastic gift. It’s an amazing car. I receive it with a lot of pride, so thank you very much, I appreciate it. I didn’t put a lot of speed into it, but it’s going very well,” he said about the NSX Type-S received as a gift.

Finally, he gave his thoughts on Pierre Gasly’s farewell to Alpha Tauri: “We raced together since we were kids. I know how talented he is. We were also teammates, he was a leader at AlphaTauri, but I understand that he accepted his new challenge. She is part of the Red Bull family, but I am excited about her future. Maybe our paths will meet again, we are still very young. Checo is a little bit older. No, I’m just kidding. I wish Pierre all the best, may next year be a great year in this new chapter that is beginning.”