The Honda, the second best motorcycle behind the Ducati?

His passage on the grid on the occasion of her first Wild-Card for Honda fueled curiosity about what Espargaró could think of the Japanese motorcycle. He who experienced the progressions of Suzuki and Aprilia towards victory and was an actor in the development of these machines, he can assert a precious experience which gives value to his comments.

And the Spaniard did not go there by four paths: from its point of view, the Honda is the most competitive motorcycle behind the all-powerful Ducati. Provided, however, to overcome what he deems is his biggest limitation, namely vibrations that constantly disrupt management during racing weekends.

When asked, after Jerez’s sprint, if he was surprised by something in the current hierarchy of MotoGP, Espargaró replied: “Not much, I think the championship is more or less as I left it last year. The Ducati are at the top. I think Honda is the manufacturer who has progressed the most, because I know that the results are not brilliant, but Joan [Mir] finished [le sprint] four or five seconds from fourth place [6″8 en réalité, ndlr] And I think that eight seconds are due to them alone in cattering. So, without cattering, he could fight for the podium, I have no doubts about it. “

At this stage of the season, Joan Mir and Johann Zarco embody the improvement of results in the Honda group. And for Aleix Espargaró, newly integrated into the test team, it is a real engine. “For the team test, it is essential to see that the pilots get results and that they perceive improvements, it motivates us. When you enter a negative spiral, it is difficult to get out of it”, he said.

And add: “For me, the Honda is the second best motorcycle in the grid after the Ducati. It turns, it stops well, the engine needs to be improved but it is acceptable. However, cattering limits a lot. This is what to solve.”

Aleix Espargaró learned a lot with his first Grand Prix on the Honda.

Photo de : Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

These comments echoed the ones Luca Marini at the previous Grand Prix. While describing the problems with which his colleagues and faced him, the Italian said he was very optimistic for the future.

“If we have to roll alone, without anyone behind, we know that we lose two tenth gratis at each turn, but we can do a good race. On the other hand, if you have to fight, it becomes another story because even by pushing loudly on the brakes, we get out of straight and we get caught.”

“But I cannot complain about it, I especially want to improve the motorcycle in other areas for the moment because I think there is a big potential. If we manage to make good qualifiers and take a good start, we can be in the blow and be the second manufacturer in the championship by the end of the season”, said Marini.

More a problem of vibrations than motor power

All Honda pilots agree on the description of the difficulties posed by the motorcycle. But of the two large areas that all complain about, Espargaró finally retains cattering as the only real blockage, the engine being a simpler weakness to solve.

“We know that we have fairly big problems now. We have progressed quite a lot during the pre-season, the motorcycle is very well balanced, its weight was greatly reduced compared to last season and we now have a very competitive motorcycle on this point, electronics have improved a lot.”

“We still have two big concerns. One is pure power, we have to improve on this point”, he summed up. “And the second concern are the vibrations. […] It is clear that we improve on this, that we solve this problem. You have to be able to ride without a cattering, I did not have one on the Aprilia. But in the meantime, the pilots must understand how to pilot with this cattering, as Johann did in Qatar and Joan for example [à Jerez].”

Joan Mir (Honda HRC)

Photo of: HRC

“We have to work on the engine but that is not the biggest problem, from my point of view”, Added the Spaniard after playing a full Grand Prix with this motorcycle. “The biggest problem is vibrations. When I was in front of Marc [Márquez]I was very concentrated during these two laps to try to follow him, to understand how to follow him. The Honda is good in large braking but in quick turns it is impossible to follow the Ducati, so we have to improve on this point. “

Espargaró also shared his point of view on the origin of these vibrations, very complex to identify. “It is very difficult for engineers and for myself to understand how to tackle it”, He admitted, however he described them accentuated by the increase in temperature on the ground and particularly strong at the start of the turn. But while the images show that the rear of the motorcycle sometimes begins to vibrate before the tremors are transferred forward and feel in the handlebars, they would come, according to the Spanish, not from the tire, but possibly from the engine and the steering wheel of inertia. A first step towards solving the problem?

An Jarcia Al Casanova Herong