For a while now, Ramón Aurín and Santi Hernández, the two technical managers of the motorcycles of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, have been analyzing the circuit where the next round of the World Championship is taking place.
Today it is obviously Motegi.
Ramon Aurin : “It's a special circuit for us because it belongs to Honda, which gives us additional responsibility. Being a Honda circuit, it’s all about acceleration and top speed.”
Santi Hernández : “It is important to have a motorcycle that is very stable when braking. The front discs suffer a lot because of the high temperatures caused by heavy braking and the time you spend braking.”
Ramon Aurin : “The drivers are at the limit and they brake at the limit. A 5% loss in braking power is enough to cause you to go out and lose the lap or the race.”
Santi Hernández : “It's a circuit that seems very simple at first glance because it only consists of acceleration and braking. It makes you think it's not difficult, but in reality it's a very complicated circuit.”
Ramon Aurin :”A few years ago, the race took one more lap. With the number of straights there are here, the percentage past full throttle is high, which implies that consumption is very high. This was not the case for Honda, but the other manufacturers sometimes ran out of fuel because they were so close to the limit.”
Santi Hernández : “Japanese fans are very different from Europeans, Americans or Australians. They are so respectful that they first ask permission from the drivers to ask them to sign their shirts, posters or photos.”
