For those interested in managing the equipment of a team involved in MotoGP, Christophe Bourguignon covers many aspects in detail during an interview given to the very interesting but nevertheless free online magazine OTOR (On-Track Off-Road).
The technical manager of the LCR Honda team first of all perfectly illustrates the quasi-military organization put in place by Honda over the years.
Christophe Bourguignon : “in December, we receive a list from HRC with all the material they are going to send us. So the following year, this entire list will have to return to Japan. It's a big job that we do at the end of the season, because we have to dismantle everything. For example, a radiator must be disassembled from its spacers, rubbers, etc. It's a week's work. The parts we return are those that will not be used with the following year's motorcycle, which is to say almost everything! HRC is still producing improvements, but we can keep basic things like nuts, screws, clips, etc. basic and universal. All electronics and engine parts must be returned, and each item is marked and well organized. This takes place after the test in Jerez at the beginning of December. At this point, I will have received the parts list for the following year's bike and they will ask me to pre-order the used parts, like exhausts or fairings. So a global order is made in December and we see the parts in January, when we go to Japan for “schooling”, that is to say the assembly of the motorcycles. At this point, I readjust the order and, perhaps, add or remove different things. With each motorcycle, HRC provides a set of parts, independent of my order, which will cover at least the first tests.
“The level of organization is such that if there is a change to a part that is not on my order, it will be placed in the Kit.”
“We keep the original packaging of each item. We receive stickers from Japan with the serial numbers of the parts ready to be sent back, and if some are missing, we have to make a note to say where they are, since some parts have to return to Japan even during the season for an update. day ".
“Everything is well organized, with parts lists, stickers and notifications about which parts we can keep. We disassemble and pack the engine parts and chassis parts, and put them in crates with the motorcycle. This one is also going back, but if we keep it, we still have to send it back to Japan because it is on a notebook and we need a new notebook for the following year. It's a nightmare ! The names of the pieces too! At first glance, they mean nothing; there is no relation to what the room is, but the people at HRC are very accustomed to that. They know that a “flat” indicates a set of aerodynamic fins. It’s very tricky at first but now we know.”
What follows is the logistical description of the first tests at Sepang and the direct return of certain parts to the workshops located in Misano, then some interesting information concerning the carbon elements...
Christophe Bourguignon : “At the start of the season, we order X sets of fairings and saddles. In our particular case, as we sometimes change sponsors every weekend, we need a lot of them, because of the different paints and stickers. They allow us to repair and repaint them, but we cannot reproduce any carbon parts, which is normal since it is their motorcycle. We have a knowledgeable person working to repair and repaint them, and, if it's just scratches, it can be fixed. For a satellite team like ours, it's really good. A factory team like Repsol will directly replace instead of repair. You can imagine that this can cost a fortune with 2 riders likely to crash more than 20 or 30 times during the season, because the carbon parts made in Japan are really high quality, and therefore expensive. I would say each rider has between 8 and 10 fairings, and maybe 5 or 6 saddles.”
This interview with Adam Wheeler is far from being confined to these two subjects, and addresses in particular what the LCR team has the right, or not, to do regarding suspensions, brakes, wheels, etc.
