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MotoGP, Pedrosa: Old or new engine? Honda will decide

The Spaniard's RC 213V was fitted with brand new fairings: "We'll need to test it on other tracks too to see if it will be better or worse than the one without winglets"

MotoGP: Pedrosa: Old or new engine? Honda will decide

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First yesterday, twelfth today. Did Dani Pedrosa get that much worse during the night?

He did not get worse; the Spanish team Repsol rider had a lot to do today, with the Honda engineers hovering around the new factory RC 213V: “It was a really full day for us - Dani says - during which we tried a lot of technical changes that were sent to us from Japan. The new fairing offers different combinations and needed to be compared in the best possible way. We needed to understand how the bike would react with the fairing that doesn’t have winglets and then with the one that has them. It was important to work on the suspension as well because, depending on the aerodynamics that are used, it performs differently. It took almost the entire time to have a clear overview of the situation.

The Honda’s winglets are now really wide and bulky…

“Yes, larger than the ones we used in the past. Now the bike does not wheelie much, even at peak speed we found interesting values. However, it is also true that we need to see how the bike will perform in some phases of cornering. We’ll need to try the new aerodynamics on other tracks to so we can see if it will be better or worse.

Crowded with new parts, another important decision needs to be mad in the Honda garage: which engine to use this year? Yesterday Pedrosa had two new powerplants available, all still to be explored. In particular, the Spaniard promoted one, although: "with the new engine I already have good confidence - he begins - but with the one I already tested in Valencia last year, the team and I have more experience - he points out - by virtue of the mileage done and the relative changes. Today we did some important comparison work, so we will decide which one to use later."

Who will decide which engine to use?

"Honda will decide. (laughing)."

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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