Since Marc Marquez can no longer compensate with his genius for the faults of the RC213V, Honda suffers and is only mentioned for memory in the rankings, except when its Spanish champion seizes the opportunity to transcend himself. The technical crisis has been in place for a while, but it is now in full view of everyone. For a leading world manufacturer, this situation is unacceptable, so much so that, for 2022, we are announcing a revolution at the HRC...
Pol Espargaro laments always having the same Honda with the same problems and he is worried about 2022 given the current weaknesses of the project. But perhaps this inertia is due to the fact that said project will be different in 2022. During the Austrian Grand Prix, Marc Marquez had proclaimed loud and clear: “ I asked more from HRC because the bike is not ready to win ».
A message received by Takeo Yokoyama. The technical director of the HRC first took stock of the situation: “ the first part of 2021 was difficult and not the way we wanted it to be. We are Honda, our goal is to always be at the top, where we were in the past. And we started in that state of mind, but we didn't achieve it in this first part of the season. So I can't rate it very well, what can I say... we just keep working and trying to do new things ».
« Marc did not race last year and, above all, on the rear tire that Michelin introduced early last year. He lacks the experience of racing on this type of tire. He came back for the 2021 season and his feedback was immediately very good, but at the same time I would say he is still fully understanding the rear tire, and probably, partly because he doesn't was not in perfect condition » also specifies the Japanese. “ But his feedback... it's Marc Marquez and his feedback is very good, he contributes a lot and his feedback gave us a lot of new ideas which are supposed to come in the second part of the season, so we continue to work like that ».
Honda announces a change " drastic " in terms of engine
But most of the work is currently being done in the shadows. And it is big: “ after freezing development, we had two years to evolve the engine », begins the manager on MotoRaceNation. In addition to the parts that can be tested during this season, such as the chassis and the swinging arm, at the seat, in Japan, we are working on a revolution to achieve this grip that pilots demand when braking and accelerating. .
Honda is not going to make an evolution of the existing engine, but something that is closer to a revolution. “ What we can try with next year's engine, is to make a more drastic change than in previous years, which are changes from year to year ", were the exact words of the reference man in technical matters for Honda.
Concerning a possible change of concept, we are talking about a loss of top speed which could give more margin in other areas. However, the man Honda says: " I don't want to lose top speed, but improve braking, corner entry, half-turn, acceleration and traction. This is our goal for next year ". To be continued…
