Marc Marquez has finished with a year 2018 which will leave him with good memories. Nine victories, a new World Champion title, and a start to the off-season right away which can reassure him about the future. The new Honda follows in the footsteps of the previous one with a promising engine, a fine chassis and electronics in unison. There is also new aerodynamics…
Marc Marquez ends the season with the world title in his pocket and the knowledge of being able to count on a highly competitive RC213V. During the first day of MotoGP testing in Jerez, he mainly focused on the 2018 bike, adding some details, before moving on to the 2019 prototype. He worked on the configuration, the geometry, on the new engine which should guarantee more power on the straights without losing stability. There have also been some updates to the chassis and electronic components. All without forgetting an unprecedented aerodynamic package.
Well, unprecedented… At Honda. Because Marc Marquez admits on GPOne: “ It’s true that this set resembles what Ducati already offers. But it's different from anything we've had so far and that's why we need to study the data closely. It's not a revolution either. It's more about refining things ».
A large amount of data to work with has been collected in preparation for the next Sepang test scheduled for February. At the end of both tests he even managed to fit a soft tire on the front. A choice that was forbidden to Honda throughout the past season: “ On Wednesday we used the new aero kit. Jorge tried it on Thursday. Ultimately I stuck with my standard 2018 fairing. There wasn't much difference ».
Regarding his new teammate, the exchange of points of view took place… over breakfast at the hotel! “ We didn't have a meeting with Jorge. We talked about the motorbike at the hotel during breakfast. We could see that we had the same overall impressions. Lap speed is one thing, race pace is another. I'm confident in my overall pace. Jorge is doing well too, it's important for Honda... We have improved in the engine area, but we have to continue working on it. And also on the frame. We have a lot of information to analyze "
Marc Marquez also drove most of the time with medium and hard tires at the rear and soft tires at the front, the latter being tested in the morning and at the end of the day. But between now and the next test in Malaysia, a lot can still change: “ the pre-season is still long. It will be interesting to see how the others improve up to Sepang. In two months, everyone can improve, you have to be ready if others improve. It seems the Ducati is working well. Even Yamaha is fast on a lap ».
Now head to the operating room for the Honda official: “ I'm going to have shoulder surgery next week. Then everything is focused on convalescence, which should be quite long. I might not be in good shape at Sepang yet. My entire winter will be spent taking care of my shoulder. I will train for February and March ».
MotoGP, Jerez J.2 Test: times.
| 1 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP19 | 1:37.968 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP19 | 1:38.185 | 0.217 | 0.217 |
| 3 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 1:38.348 | 0.380 | 0.163 |
| 4 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:38.376 | 0.408 | 0.028 |
| 5 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 1:38.517 | 0.549 | 0.141 |
| 6 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:38.659 | 0.691 | 0.142 |
| 7 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda RC213V | 1:38.749 | 0.781 | 0.090 |
| 8 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP19 | 1:38.816 | 0.848 | 0.067 |
| 9 | 19 | Alvaro Bautstia | Ducati GP19 | 1:38.830 | 0.862 | 0.014 |
| 10 | 36 | Joan mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:38.956 | 0.988 | 0.126 |
| 11 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:39.008 | 1.040 | 0.052 |
| 12 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP18 | 1:39.097 | 1.129 | 0.089 |
| 13 | 42 | alex rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:39.150 | 1.182 | 0.053 |
| 14 | 63 | Francis Bagnaia | Ducati GP18 | 1:39.157 | 1.189 | 0.007 |
| 15 | 44 | Espargaro Pol | KTM RC16 | 1:39.375 | 1.407 | 0.218 |
| 16 | 20 | fabio quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:39.414 | 1.446 | 0.039 |
| 17 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:39.564 | 1.596 | 0.150 |
| 18 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:40.174 | 2.206 | 0.610 |
| 19 | 5 | Johann zarco | KTM RC16 | 1:40.192 | 2.224 | 0.018 |
| 20 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP18 | 1:40.438 | 2.470 | 0.246 |
| 21 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM RC16 | 1:40.630 | 2.662 | 0.192 |
| 22 | 50 | Sylvain Guintoli | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:40.743 | 2.775 | 0.113 |
| 23 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM RC16 | 1:41.699 | 3.731 | 0.956 |
| 24 | 15 | Matthew Baiocco | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:42.766 | 4.798 | 1.067 |
