Taking advantage of the new concession regulation, which provides for a greater number of tires and unlimited test days, Honda has rented the Jerez Circuit until Wednesday, when the last two test days of 2023 will end for both the SBK and the MotoGP ones.
Under the guidance of Ramon Aurin, the engineer in charge of the Honda test team, on Tuesday the German rider Stefan Bradl will get on the new RC213V 2024, a bike that was previewed in the last test in Valencia, where the German rider was not present , but the owners, Joan Mir and the new purchase Luca Marini, were able to get on the new prototype.
The impressions after this day of testing could not have been more optimistic, both for Mir publicly and for Marini at least in terms of sensations, given that the Italian cannot make any statements as he is still under contract with VR46 until the end of the year, even if he was satisfied with his new motorbike.
“I'm quite satisfied, it's the first time that they brought something to a test that worked,” said Mir at the end of the official 2024 pre-season test day on November 28, after trying for the first time the prototype that Honda is developing for the 2024 season.
“We tried many things and we didn't have time to put on soft tires to do the time attack, but I'm very happy. The potential is different,” summed up the Mallorcan driver. “It's longer and also weighs less, this is the reality. It's a first step towards having a competitive bike, the road is still long, but it's a good step”, he added.
Also testing the new Honda prototype was Johann Zarco, the expert French rider who joins Team LCR after working with Yamaha Tech3, KTM and Pramac. Like Marini, he was unable to speak at Valencia due to his contract with Ducati, but team owner Lucio Cecchinello did.
“Johann tried the 2023 bike and then the 2024 version; he noticed a significant difference in corner entry and rear grip. We were surprised, it seems like a notable step forward,” explained the former rider.
Photo by: Dorna
Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team
New pieces in record time
The most surprising thing is that, Motorsport.com has learned, Honda will bring in completely new parts from Tokyo for this test with Bradl. Perhaps, say the same sources, following the indications provided by the pilots in Cheste only three weeks ago.
In this sense, Cecchinello had already said after that test that they had been very precise in transmitting their conclusions to Honda's engineers: “The instructions we gave placed particular emphasis on weight distribution. If you look at all the crashes in 2023, the main cause was the loss of the front end. We asked for a bike with a different balance and a center of gravity moved further back. Also in terms of dimensions, the new bike is slightly longer and weighs less”, explained the team boss Monegasque.
At the moment it is not known whether the new 2024 engine will be available for testing in the two days of Jerez or if, as hypothesized in Valencia, the new unit will only be tested in the Sepang tests in February.
With the new concessions, official Honda (and Yamaha) riders will be able to participate in the 2024 pre-season shakedown, in Sepang from 1 to 3 February, in addition to the official test on the same circuit from 6 to 8 February, before the pre-season test. final season in Qatar, on 19 and 20 February. In this way Honda (and Yamaha) will have up to eight days of testing available before the start of the 2024 season, set for Lusail on March 10.
The weather forecast for Jerez predicts sunny conditions throughout the day on Tuesday, with a temperature of over 16 degrees, dropping to 13 degrees on Wednesday, when some clouds are expected.
In addition to the entire Japanese manufacturer's test team for MotoGP, part of the SBK team is also in Jerez to prepare the bike for the 2024 season, with Japanese rider Tetsuta Nagashima as tester.
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