27 Apr 2024 by Luigi Ciamburro
Honda is going in the wrong direction, in Jerez the RC213V confirms the state of crisis. Hopes in the MotoGP test scheduled for Monday 29 April.
The Jerez Grand Prix is further confirmation of the serious crisis that Honda is going through. The best HRC rider at the end of Friday was Takaaki Nakagami, 16th, almost a second from Pecco Bagnaia’s best time. The 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir had a gap of 1’4″ from the top, Luca Marini even 1.8″. The RC213V is going in the wrong direction despite the many efforts of the Japanese engineers and discontent inevitably grows in the LCR garage.
Is the engine the real problem?
The Honda riders are navigating a stormy sea and the Jerez test is hoped to be an unlikely lifesaver. “I can’t control the front, I don’t turn well and I have no grip. On this circuit it’s something that hurts us a lot. The good thing is that at Honda they have understood what we need, but we don’t know when we will have these changes. I think there are things we will be able to resolve on Monday“said Joan Mir. “In Jerez everyone is going strong thanks to the tests that take place throughout the year. We are trying things and changing to improve. In reality whatever we do, the bike does what it wants and the problem doesn’t come from here, it’s a drama“.
Apparently the real Achilles’ heel lies in the engine, with the House of the Golden Wing having worked “on a wrong concept“. They are taking full action to correct it, but for now”we don’t know when these improvements will arrive“, added the Mallorcan driver. What seems clear is that the bike with which Stefan Bradl makes his first seasonal wildcard this weekend is not the solution so requested by HRC members. According to Mir, the German’s bike “it’s going in a direction that’s not what we want” and for this “it’s good that he takes it” and not another Honda rider.
Bitterness in the LCR Honda garage
There is concern in the LCR box, it’s normal. The team occupies the last position in the Team Championship standings and the ’24 MotoGP season promises to be very complicated. Despite the presence of two expert riders like Zarco and Nakagami, the RC213V remains a motorcycle on ‘red alert’. The best result achieved by the LCR riders in this first part of the year was Zarco’s 12th place in the inaugural event in Qatar. “We’re a little worried“, admitted Lucio Cecchinello in a brief chat with DAZN. “We thought we were more competitive. We have a new bike that is quite different from the 2023 one. The stopwatch is still not good, the times and the races we do are not up to our goals. We need to make an even bigger change“.
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Photo: Box_Repsol
