2023-07-09 10:02:52
In the obvious decline that Honda is going through there are always fingers pointing treacherously at some culprit. Because when something goes wrong, you always look for a scapegoat. In the specific situation of the golden wing brand on more than one occasion Stefan Bradl has been singled out for his work as a test driver for the brand.
However, that is not something that particularly worries the driver himself, who does not see his contract with the Japanese factory in jeopardy. Already in his day he said that “there weren’t five other pilots waiting in line.”
Marc Márquez himself has come out in defense of Stefan Bradl’s work on occasion. In one of his last interventions he said that “since Stefan Bradl has been with us as test drivers, not a single part has arrived in my box that is not better than the previous one”.
Bradl’s work is far from improving the bike. As a test pilot, Honda is giving him improved parts of the RC213-V that the German is in charge of testing to the millimeterto then issue a final verdict on whether they are worth it, and he believes that the rest of the brand’s riders will find them useful in order to improve the bike.
Thus he narrates Speedweek his work within the Japanese box: “In simple terms, these are the key aspects. If I get the impression that certain new parts are of no benefit, they certainly don’t make it to the factory equipment. Because if my feedback is negative, you usually don’t see any progress on the stopwatch, i.e. with the lap times. I haven’t been just a test driver since yesterday. I’ve been working with HRC and Marc for five and a half years. So we know that if some component doesn’t make me faster, we don’t have to pass it on to Marc for evaluation.”.
To make matters worse, Stefan specifies that “I do not develop the motorcycle”, but, he explains, “rather, I test new parts that arrive on the test rig and see if they improve the package or not”. Bradl also delves into the subject and mentions that “if my feedback is positive, the parts will go to the GP team as soon as possible. If that’s not the case, it’s usually fixed or returned, then adjusted and improved.”.
Bradl corrects those who call him “bike developer“, why not. Rather it emphasizes that it is “test and reserve pilot”justifying that “engineers are responsible for the development of racing motorcycles. They absorb my information and my comments, then draw their conclusions. Then we develop it on the computer with CAD drawings and so on”.
Also read: Nakagami is clear when Honda lost its way: “In 2022 the motorcycle lost its DNA”
How then is the drift of Honda explained? Nakagami, who has been linked to Honda for five years, responds: “Before the concept was the same, only the engine changed. In 2022 it was different at all levels. The chassis, the geometry, the feel of the front end… The bike has lost its Honda DNA, so I had to change my riding style, which I had learned four years before”:
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