The second day of testing Sepang was not a day favorable to the Honda troops. THE two official drivers are entangled in electronic problems which affect the behavior of the RC213V and raise questions about the advisability of the new engine. Jack Miller fell and Tito Rabat fell so badly that he left Malaysia for treatment in Spain. As for Cal Crutchlow, he is no better off.
Best time of the Honda clan and close to the top 5 the day before, Cal Crutchlow had a less prosperous day by settling for twelfth position, 1.239 seconds behind the best time of Iannone riding his Suzuki. It must be said that the LCR driver is not chasing the clock. Far from it. Requested by Honda, he works for the factory which no longer has enough Márquez and Pedrosa to move forward on the crucial question of the new engine – standard electronics pairing.
Marc Márquez reported it and the Englishman confirmed it on speedweek : " I can't say much except that we work hard. It's like putting together a puzzle. We are making progress in one sector and then things are not going well in another and so on. We can't really move forward when everything is under control ».
Which is therefore not yet the case: “ our position does not show our true potential because at the moment we cannot switch to the soft tires. We have too much work to do. Our situation is a little difficult at the moment. We have a lot of things to check before we put it all together and make a good set.e ”.
« We are all focused on the engine. And there's not just one. We need to put this new engine to the test. Otherwise, there is always the old one. But Honda is doing everything it can to improve thingss ”.
