SBK, Honda revolution: changes on the CBR RR-R for 2023

The first test for 2023 took place at Jerez last week. Although the Honda MotoGP test team has closed its doors, we still managed to find out some details brought to the track by the Japanese team for the next Superbike World Championship season.

As is well known, following the results achieved in this year’s championship, Honda can in fact make use of the super concessions, which allow for more extensive interventions on the bike. One of these is certainly the frame. From what we can ascertain, the CBRs of Lecuona and Vierge took to the track with a longer frame than last season, and the pivot area has also been modified. Another intervention has also been made on the frame stiffness, allowing the riders to have a smoother bike as requested during the season.

The new features did not end there, because various interventions have also been made on the engine, where development has revolved around having more thrust at low revs. A subject that in some ways is also common to Ducati, considering that Bautista has expressly asked for the something similar on the new Panigale V4. There is also a change in the ignition, to reduce the total inertia of the engine with the aim of making improvements when entering and in the middle of the curve.

Finally, attention has also been paid to the winglets, because here they form part of a grey area of the regulation. According to what we have learnt, Lecuona and Vierge took advantage of the Jerez appointment to try out different wing profiles from last season with the aim of obtaining improvements in terms of aerodynamics. We'll see if all these new features will be presented again during the January 25-26 test in Jerez.