There was a moment on the Tuesday evening of last week when you’d have been forgiven for thinking HRC had once again failed to learn from their mistakes. At the close of the second day of testing at Sepang, just one of Honda’s riders sat inside the top ten (Marc Marquez in tenth), while two others (Jack Miller and Tito Rabat, 21st and 23rd) didn’t even make the top twenty – hardly a promising indication of things to come.
Then there were Marquez’s assessments, which hinted that the 2017 RC213V was still some way-off where it needed to be, and could have suggested Honda’s insistence to design the machine in its own way, without taking rider feedback into account, had shone through. “One of the points that we are struggling more is the exit of the corner,” said Marquez. “As soon as you touch the gas, you have to change or find another strategy to use all the power to find grip.”
Sound familiar? A different year it may be, but acceleration was once again a serious issue, as it had been in 2015 and ’16. This all followed the Valencia test, where both Marquez and team-mate Dani Pedrosa stressed the same concerns, with the reigning world champion giving the impression that he was rather irked by the predicament.
Yet not everyone was convinced that Honda’s issues amounted to anything other than early teething problems. The seasoned Valentino Rossi, entering his 22nd premier class campaign, knows a thing or two about mind games. “For Marquez we have to wait,” said the Italian that evening. “Today he worked on used tyres, long runs and he hide. I’m not surprised if tomorrow he puts on new tyres and gives half a second to everybody.”
And while Marquez didn’t quite demolish the opposition in the way his Italian nemesis had predicted, Wednesday’s performance showed Rossi to be right. Marquez had been hiding. His second fastest time, set despite “sacrificing my time attack for the long run”, showed that he has the speed. As does Dani Pedrosa, who ended the test fifth. And despite Marquez’s talking down of the situation, Honda seems to be well placed to, at the very least, challenge for its fourth rider’s world title in five years. While Maverick Viñales grabs the headlines, Marquez is quietly going about his business, underplaying his potential and ensuring his readiness for round one in seven week’s time.
Like in Valencia, Marquez’s consistency was exceptional. While some way off the fastest pace on Tuesday, the 23-year old appeared to have the RC213V dialed in on his final two runs. Of the whopping 85 laps he posted a day later, 42 of those were in the 2m 0s or the 1m 59s. Only Viñales (29) and the test’s surprise package Alvaro Bautista (28) could get close. As if to leave Malaysia without any doubts, Marquez posted an ominous eleven lap run in the low 2m 0s at the end of the afternoon, with just a 0.2s variation in lap time. It appears he’s quickly adding the metronomic Lorenzo’s regularity to his armory of skills.
Part of this can surely be explained by Honda’s switch to a new engine configuration for 2017. Marquez, Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow all tested two new motors with revised ‘big bang’ configurations that are some way from the ‘screamers’ they’ve raced since the reintroduction of 1000cc engines in 2012.
While each man remained tight-lipped on engine character, Marquez admitted the all-new powerplant is easier to ride. “It looks like in the RPM it is really different [and] with the gas maybe smoother,” he said. That falls in line with Jack Miller’s comments after testing one of these new engines for HRC at Jerez in November. There, the Australian was positively jubilant at the bike’s ability to make similar lap times over and over again, while physically it was less demanding that what had come before. “It was good,” beamed Miller, describing a fast late race run. “Really, really, really good.”
The problems Marquez detailed in Sepang were mainly teething issues with this. Adapting the engine mapping settings to the motor’s new characteristics took a great deal of time. “In the end it’s the torque delivery, how to manage the exit, how to manage the torque then on the wheelie side, under acceleration,” he said on Wednesday. But this can mostly be remedied by electronics set-up he added. If last year is anything to go by, HRC’s team of data technicians can bring about substantial improvements before and during the year.
There was reason behind Yamaha’s managing director Lin Jarvis labelling Marquez as “the reference” for which his riders must aim in 2017. Viñales also spoke of it, saying his fellow Catalan’s consistency at the Valencia test brought his own need to work on hitting the same markers lap-in, lap-out into focus.
The good work done behind the scenes at HRC until now hasn’t been accidental. Marquez, who had come in for some mild criticism from Pedrosa mid-way through ’16 for making the final engine choice, was keen to avoid the difficult pre-season of last year. While it never realistically appeared that he’d leave ‘Big H’, an announcement on his contract renewal didn’t arrive until early June – late by last season’s standards. The inclusion of clauses relating to his technical team’s overall influence on bike development were key to him signing, and were responsible for the delay. Marquez’s insistence on this matter already appears to be paying off.
Now the Repsol teammates need to choose which of the new engines to use moving forward but team principle Livio Suppo has indicated both favour the same motor. All of which also bodes well for Pedrosa. Apparently re-energised by a change of crew chief, a clean bill of health, and the addition of long-time friend and ex-race winner Sete Gibernau to his personal team as rider coach, Pedrosa’s speed on Wednesday showed he shouldn’t be discounted for race wins. Cal Crutchlow has shown himself to be capable too, while Jack Miller really needs a strong season as he enters the third and final year of his HRC contract.
While few expected Honda to drop to the lows it experienced last winter, the factory appears to be in fine shape early on. And that in spite of ex-vice president Shuhei Nakamoto’s retirement at the end of 2016.
Not that 2017 will be easy by any means. If Marquez had not been fully aware of the very real threat posed by Viñales before Sepang, he undoubtedly will now. Five official test days have now passed since ‘16’s last bow and Viñales has topped three of them, and showed even greater pace on what appears to be a well-prepped Yamaha M1.
Valentino Rossi was never far away at Sepang and his own playing down of his chances suggests he too is settled. Meanwhile Andrea Dovizioso’s speed and Jorge Lorenzo’s vast improvement show Ducati will be a contender, while the same can be said of Andrea Iannone and Suzuki. It would be foolish to bet against any one of those men winning races. Yet, if we compare Honda’s plight of a year ago – when Marquez still managed a title win -, then the others best-be-ready for Qatar, where, unlike the past two seasons, #93 will surely hit the ground running.
A crash on Saturday in Portugal but still almost 130 laps banked for Alex Lowes; the Brit starts his second year on the R1 and hoping to elevate top ten promise in 2016 to podium contention.
Photos by CormacGP
