Why Honda risked its future at Le Mans

This Saturday or Sunday sling bag A good part of his future is at stake at Le Mans. Not that they were going to throw the French GP away from the start, but the results from the start of the campaign are slowly letting them out: Rins is eighth, 40 points behind Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, 19th , 80 points, and Joan Mir, 20th, 82 points. . They have a more important task at Le Mans than fighting for victory against Ducatis: testing the technical innovations where their tester works in a Grand Prix Stefan Bradl. And the focus of attention is on kalex chassis. The German driver could not make statements in the post-test, but found out from Joan Mir “that he liked it a lot”.

Since the preseason they have smelled each other at Honda with 2023 looking deadly. The choice of chassis they half-decided at the Valencia test in November to start the campaign indicated that the winter work had not paid off, that they would suffer in the first Grand Prix and perhaps it was time to play their cards well in 2023 to do everything in 2024. To make matters worse, Marc Márquez added a new medium-term injury from which he will now be out.

These three days are key as there is a three-week break for Japan to work on the indications of their pilots and then link it from June 9-11 with three consecutive Grands Prix, Mugello, Sachsenring and Assen, before the it’s another time bracket for the long summer vacation.

very eloquent Marc Márquez in his comments on his return to competition after three Grand Prix losses. The 80-point disadvantage with respect to Pecco Bagnaia is ‘pecata minuta’: “I have to work, especially this weekend, but this does not mean that I will try to make the most of the situation and I will look for my life like every weekend. One thing does not eliminate the other, but it is convenient to work, to continue development”.

Despite not being able to participate in the test in Jerez, he kept in touch with the tester Bradl so that he could tell him himself about his feelings on the chassis of the kalex, where he accidentally fell. And with Joan Mir, the work of the Repsol Honda team continues as it is convenient for both world champions to get out of this uncomfortable situation. “I spoke to Stefan, and also this Thursday I spoke to Joan Mir at lunch, he will also try it again this weekend and see how it goes. Every driver has a feeling, but the important thing is that it is positive and , above all, Let it be fast. I am guided by the lap time, if it is fast it stays on the bike, and if not, it is thrown away. The decision to try it was made by the team, for me the it would have been ideal to have two equal bikes in the box and gradually accelerate, but now we have to work to change the bike”, explained Márquez.

“Honda is reacting and bringing things. They brought a lot to the test in Jerez. Some worked and others didn’t, but you have to keep working to always have a bike that is always at the front and not just stuck you go to circuits that are favorable for the bike and the rider, as happened with Rins in Austin. We must continue to work together because this is the way to continue progressing this year and for 2024”, emphasized Repsol Honda rider.

The Japanese giant signed off on its worst results crisis since 2020, which they patched together with Marc Márquez’s three wins in 2021, but until Alex Rins’ surprise victory in Austin, another 24 races went by when no winner And that for Honda, which is the most successful manufacturer in the Grand Prix with 817 victories ahead of Yamaha (520) and also leads the title standings with 72 titles, ahead of Yamaha (37) is almost a sin.

Regarding Rins’ success in Austin, Marc admitted that “Austin is a circuit I’ve been very good at in the past, so I’ll follow my lines, which is good, but it’s a circuit where the weak points of the bike. don’t appear too much, because they are very ‘stop and go’ corners, in the accelerations from first to third, maybe we lose a little bit”, he explained.

“And as seen, in Austin it painted one way and in Jerez the reality was seen a little more, because all the Honda riders suffered a lot. They are great riders, but we all have to keep working together to continue progressing. Mir is a winning driver, he wants to win, he wants to be there, that’s why he crashes four times in one weekend, because he wants to win, and we don’t know how to understand the sport in any other way. So we will keep trying”, continued Marc Márquez.

The Kalex chassis is exclusive to Repsol Honda

Despite his strong plea after his victory in Austin, Alex Rins will not have a Kalex chassis available in his LCR box and will do another type of chassis comparison during practice. “They have their test plan. I have tested the chassis that Joan uses and, honestly, I have found some positive points and some negative points. We will give it another chance here, I have a bike with mine and another bike with Joan’s “, he says. Alex Rins explains that he continues to claim: “They know I’m ready.”