2023-11-29 20:38:28
At Honda they are satisfied with the results obtained in their first preseason test of the new post-Márquez era. Although we didn’t see any RC213Vs in the leading positions at the Valencia test, Joan Mir left happy with the general improvement of the prototype that HRC is preparing for next yeara significantly longer and lighter bike that allowed the new member of the Repsol Honda Team and Mir’s teammate, Luca Marini, to finish in a promising 10th position, even ahead of the Balearic Islander.
Alberto Puig valued positively what his technicians and drivers found in Cheste; In conversation with DAZN, the team manager of the Repsol Honda Team could not hide that the test day in Valencia was “different” with Marc Márquez outside his box competing with another factory, highlighting “having improved in some things, not in others, but it had been a long time since we had noticed such an important improvement in some parts of the bike. like the ones we have seen here, we are happy.
Puig cannot – or does not want – to detail what specific improvements Mir has found on his motorcycle, although he does let it slip that “affects the traction of the motorcycle”, one of the most repeated criticisms by its pilots over the last year: “There is still a lot to work on, but so far we have noticed a change, which is already important. Sometimes you try things and don’t notice anything. And today we have noticed a change in trend for the better.”
Seen in photos, the 2024 Honda is longer than before, and also hides another secret invisible to the eyes: a significant weight saving. Puig does not give figures, but insists that “We have lost a lot of weight. It was an important issue, because the weight on a motorcycle always hinders, to accelerate, brake, change the direction of the motorcycle… therefore, if you have less weight… even without touching anything on the motorcycle, with less weight almost I’m sure you’ll win, and we’ve lost a lot of weight.” Puig does not detail numbers, but in the paddock he talks about a weight loss cure of more than four kilos, bringing the 2024 RC213V closer to the minimum weight of the premier category, 157 kilos.
Among the list of tasks that HRC had prepared for Valencia, it also includes improved aerodynamics that, for the moment, do not seem to be bearing fruit: “We are trying different things. There we are further behind, but we continue trying things, with a little more direction than before“points out Puig.
About the great news inside his box, Luca Marinithe boss of the Repsol Honda Team values above all the experience of a rider who has been racing a Ducati for years, the most competitive motorcycle on the entire grid: “Marini is a rider who comes from racing a Ducati, whether he likes it or not, he is going to leave us information. Due to the situation and what happened with Marc, there weren’t many options either. We were analyzing it, he showed a lot of interest, he was the first to contact us. “We studied it and saw that it was a good option.”
In Valencia, Joan Mir started working with Santi Hernández and the entire technical team that previously accompanied Marc Márquez, while Giacomo Guidotti, the leader of Mir’s box this year, took the reins of Luca Marini’s garage, a decision that, in the words of Alberto Puig, remains logical for a simple question of language: “It makes sense that the Spanish crew chief was with a Spanish driver, and the Italian, with an Italian. Although everyone understands each other in Italian, English or Spanish, you always understand more with someone of your own nationality than with others. “This has been the reason.”
Read also: Marc Márquez undergoes surgery 24 hours after the Valencia test
Finally, there was a question related to Marc Márquez and his speed on the handlebars of the Gresini Racing Ducati. The good feelings of #93 with the Italian prototype were evident from the first round, when he got off the bike with a big smile on his face, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Puig: “I saw that he got off the bike and he was happy, you don’t have to be very smart. Of course I’m glad. Will he fight for the World Cup next year? Yes, I think so, 100%.”, he says bluntly.
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