During the night in Qatar, they went unnoticed. “They” are the 2 Hondas of Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa who, for the race, and almost only for the race, decided to use the new carbon arm seen during tests in Valencia at the end of 2017 (see here).
Beyond the fact that this is obviously the first time that this arm has been used in racing, and moreover on the 2 official motorcycles, it is quite intriguing to note that during the tests on Friday and Saturday, it has only very rarely been tested. This last minute adoption on the two RC213Vs of the Repsol Honda team therefore gives an impression of confidence in this equipment which will only need to be confirmed in Argentina.
At the front, and this is also a first, Dani Pedrosa had also adopted the carbon fork like his teammate Marc Márquez, hence our “full carbon” title.
Be careful, however, of the black reflections of the fork tubes in the photos taken at night at Losail; it is only an optical effect specific to these nocturnal conditions.
Note, thanks to the flash lighting, the weaving of the Öhlins carbon sleeves adopted by the official Ducati team, now the official Honda, Valentino Rossi, Suzuki and Aprilia.
