“Spy Attitude” MotoGP: the second lever on Marc Márquez’s left handlebar

During the second free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, we could see that Marc Márquez had tried a new rear brake system controlled from the handlebars of his Honda RC 213V.

The rear brake is now used by most drivers, among other things, to tighten their trajectory in turns, and, if this poses no problem in left turns, it is quite different in right turns where the The inclination of the motorcycle is such that there is simply no longer room to operate the brake pedal with your boot.

We have also seen the proliferation of thumb controls on the left handlebars in recent times, whether or not coupled with the brake pedal.

Marc Márquez, extremely fast in left turns, a little less so on the right, tried a system identical in principle but slightly different in its implementation, in the sense that the traditional paddle pushed by the left thumb was replaced by a conventional brake lever, like what you can find on scooters…

But given the Honda driver's comments, the experience was hardly conclusive.

Marc Márquez: “Of course, we started working on some ideas for the future. Normally in the left corners I am very fast and in the right I am still fast, but not very, very fast. That's why we tried to find something more but it was only a first feeling, a first contact. We already tried with a thumb brake, but I don't like it. I need to feel the handlebars with my hand. I do a lot of motocross and use the clutch and front brake, and a lever like that is easier to use for me. HRC has continued to work and that is why we are looking for new solutions. In the morning I rode the standard motorcycle. In FP2, both bikes were equipped with this new rear brake lever. This is the first time I have received this new part with the rear brake above the clutch. At first contact, I tried to understand if there were some possibilities for the future to progress in certain areas. It was interesting but quite difficult because we are not used to driving with that. But at the moment it is not ready and we must continue working. At the moment I don't see any additional benefit and we will remove this solution for tomorrow. It's difficult and they need to keep investigating to see if it can work better. »