Former Suzuki Ken Kawauchi, signed by Honda Racing Corporation as the new Technical Manager, made his debut this week in a private test at the Jerez circuit which was little used due to the cold. According to tester Stefan Bradl, Michelin brought them the same compounds they brought to the GP in May with a temperature 20ºC higher, so they made little conclusions about the new parts and they were going to risk everything in Sepang, in the shakedown. for testers from February 5 to 7 and the official drivers’ test from February 10 to 12.
Speaking on the championship’s official website motogp.com Livio Suppo, who became the team manager of the Suzuki team in 2022 and also knows Honda since he spent seven years with them, between 2013 and 2017 as Repsol Honda team manager, He gave his perspective on what Kawauchi-San can bring to Honda in 2023 and the importance of Kokubo-San’s return as project leader.
Suppo argued in this interview that “Ken is Suzuki’s Technical Director, which means that all the team’s technicians have to send him their reports after every training session and every race. He is the chaired all the technical meetings, so Ken was very good at gathering information and transferring it to the factory.”
“Especially for the Japanese manufacturers, it is not easy to get information from the track to the factory and from the factory to the track. In my opinion, this is a very important part of the job. It is very important that they have the same vision and the people trust the people at the factory and vice versa. If they don’t share the same ideas, it’s a disaster for the development of the bike.”
“You know, Ken has two big advantages. First, he’s proven to be very good at his job. Second, he has a very good character. I think empathy in this kind of work is very important because it’s impossible for track engineers. and the factory drivers share the same vision all the time. People on the track can overlook something that the factory understands and vice versa. So empathy and the ability to work with the same group is very important and I think Ken has it”, emphasizes Livio Suppo.
Will not build a new bike
“I don’t think Ken’s role is to build a new bike, I think it will be the same with him at Suzuki and I think he will do a very good job. He will help everyone at HRC to go in the same direction , which is very important. I say the same direction and not the right direction because there is a big difference. If everyone is working in the same direction, you will understand whether it is right or not. If people are working in opposite directions , no one will know what is right and what is wrong. it is wrong. The bike can be ‘trash’ and no one will know whose fault it is. It is important that there is no internal war between people who think that their ideas are better than all others.”
He doesn’t understand what happened to Honda in 2022
“Every rider in the paddock thinks the Honda isn’t that good, right? A year ago, in pre-season testing and the first race in Qatar, if you look at the articles since then everyone said the Honda. Even Pol Espargaró told the media that “with this bike we can fight”, “we are going in the right direction”, etc. But what happened next? How can a bike go from finishing on the podium in Qatar -and Pol had the potential to win that race, but was very strong at the start and had no tires at the end – and then in the middle of the season was fighting to get into the Top 10? It’s very strange. Honestly, it’s almost impossible to understand what happened last year.”
Rate the return of Kokubo-San
Another new thing for HRC 2023 is the return as Honda development leader of Shinichi Kokubo, who Suppo also knows well: “Kokubo-san has shown that he can build a good bike. He was in that position when I was there and in 2012, for example, when we went to 1000cc, they made a strong bike, so Casey (Stoner), Dani (Pedrosa), Cal (Crutchlow) were all fast. At that time, Nakamoto-san (Shuhei Nakamoto, former Vice President of HRC) will be present and essential in keeping everyone on the same page. I hope, as a friend of Ken and Kokubo, that they can save this ship that is in a storm right now, in such a difficult time.” .
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
