On the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix, Motorsport.com has previewed the negotiations between Fabiano Sterlacchini and Honda, which could conclude with the arrival of the Italian engineer at the gold wing team for next year.
Sterlacchini, Gigi Dall’Igna’s right-hand man at Ducati until three years ago, moved to KTM in 2021 to lead the Austrian MotoGP project to the next stage. However, KTM announced last month that it had been unable to reach an agreement to renew with the engineer.
While waiting for his move to Honda to be confirmed, which won’t happen until the end of this season or early next year, Honda’s factory riders said they were happy to have someone with so much experience and knowledge from Ducati and KTM joining the cause.
Fabiano Sterlacchini, KTM Factory Racing_Head of Technology
Photo by: KTM Images
HRC riders see it as a very positive movement
“I don’t know him personally, but I think his arrival would be fantastic. We need help from competent people from outside to develop this project; people who can help the Japanese to evolve this bike in the best way,” Joan Mir said when Motorsport.com asked him the question at the Red Bull Ring. “This is what we wanted from the beginning and I think Honda is understanding how to do things.”
His teammate Luca Marini is also of the same opinion, although he wanted to remain vague and preferred not to take it for granted that he will work with Sterlacchini: “I haven’t spoken to anyone, I have no news about it. But he is a great engineer, he knows a lot about Ducati, he followed the project very well in KTM and I think he has done positive things because KTM is very fast. All the top Honda people are working to change things and get back to winning, this is a good option. If it were to conclude, it would be fantastic news”.
Pol Espargaro, who spent two seasons at Honda before returning to KTM last year, where he is now a tester, stressed that “Fabiano is very intelligent, competent and good. In Honda they need someone like that, because he is a leader inside the factory, with the engineers. This is what Honda needs, a European who holds the reins”.
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