HRC Executive Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto told motogp.com that he is happy with how both Repsol Honda Team riders performed in last week’s Sepang MotoGP test, and that he is a little surprised by Marc Márquez’s high pace.
He commented: “Both riders are working very hard testing several items. With Dani [Pedrosa], some items he was happy about, some unhappy – but this is normal for winter testing. Marc, now that he’s riding a MotoGP machine he is not testing items, but getting to know and understand the bike.”
When prompted whether he was surprised by the rookie’s pace he said: “To be honest not surprised, but a little bit quicker than I expected.”
He also mentioned that he expected the two other Honda riders, in the form of LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, to improve their performances this year. Bradl, he said, could be a serious podium contender this year, while Bautista could at least double his podium tally from last season.
Finally he spoke about Honda’s “production racer”, which will be a cheaper option for satellite teams from 2014.
“We’ll make a factory spec bike, but the engine is a bit different with a valve spring system and a standard transmission,” Nakamoto said. “The chassis we are trying to make a little bit cheaper, but to keep the performance is not easy. This is the reason our schedule is a little bit delayed.”
The bike is set to run the Magneti Marelli hardware and Dorna software, and will be fully available to all riders for the first test after the Valencia GP this year.
–From motogp.com
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