2023-05-18 15:05:32
Exactly a month and a half has passed between the time the news leaked that Kalex was collaborating with Honda on the development of a new chassis until the track debut of this frame. On March 15, Speedweek.com was the first to report the collaboration between the Japanese giant and the small German chassis buildera project that had already been underway for months and that finally saw the light of day on May 1, on the occasion of the official MotoGP test held at the Circuito de Jerez.
In that test, Stefan Bradl was responsible for putting the new aluminum skeleton developed in Bobingen on the track, a job that was later transferred to Le Mans, where HRC had availableThere are three units of this chassis reserved for Marc Márquez and Joan Mir.
Honda provided a Kalex chassis to each of its two official riders, reserving the third as a spare in case of a crash; however, HRC was forced to change plans on the fly when Marc asked them to use the Kalex frame on their two bikes for Saturday in order to work in the same direction and not have to change his riding style depending on which bike he had between his legs.
Based on the results achieved in France, the #93 ended up satisfied with the work done in Germany on the RC213V chassis. On Saturday, in the Sprint Race, the Catalan signed a fifth position after having fought with the best in the first part of the test, and on Sunday, in the main race, the 30-year-old retained second position until the penultimate lapwhen an error brought him to the ground under pressure from Jorge Martín.
At the end of the Le Mans weekend, Marc Márquez acknowledged that the new Kalex chassis “makes a little difference and is a little help”, although he insisted that “still not the solution” to all the problems the bike is having this year, especially in terms of acceleration.
Compared to the frame that he had been using up to now, Marc notices the Kalex piece a little less agile, although that does not mean that he is slower with it: “When it comes to turning in the middle of the corner, I prefer my chassis, the old one. One of my strong points is that I am able to turn quickly in the corner. But that doesn’t mean it has to be faster than the other chassis.”
What the #93 does appreciate is the additional security provided by the Kalex chassis when it comes to feeling the front wheel, without a doubt one of the biggest headaches for all Honda riders: “It seems that with the Kalex chassis you have to adapt your riding style a bit. You can also turn fast, but it allows a little more errors, you can go a little further and get back on the line. With the other one it’s more critical and it’s more difficult to understand the front tire. With the new chassis it seems that it warns you more often“.
Despite clearly making progress in the chassis area thanks to Kalex, Marc points out that his biggest problem with this year’s bike is still there: “Our weak point is still braking the bike and accelerating out of the corners. I don’t know if it’s the chassis, the aerodynamics, the engine or a combination of everything. I said it last year and I stick to this approach: I say where I lose, but not how to improve it. Because I’m not the engineer.”
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#93 says “try your best on track” have the motorcycle you have, and that means “survive in the races in which I suffer” and at the same time “trying to find a way to be quick on one lap and to be consistent in the race. PBut then I come to the pits and say what our weak points are and where we lose the most. Then the engineers have to think about how to improve,” Marc clarifies that he expects improvements to his bike in three weeks, on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix.
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