Cal Crutchlow mengakui kecewa dengan Honda yang menolak permintaannya untuk mengembalikan tiga krew HRC yang sebelum ini bersamanya di LCR Honda.
Ketiga-tiga jurutera terbabit meninggalkan garaj LCR hujung 2018 bagi membantu Jorge Lorenzo musim ini.
Tindakan tersebut mendapat tentangan daripada Crutchlow dan ketua krew, Christophe Bourguinon pada tahun sama.
Bagaimanapun, Crutchlow berasakan HRC seharusnya memulangkan ketiga-tiga individu terbabit -Arlan Holterman, Marco Barbiani dan Gianni Berti – tatkala Lorenzo telah pun bersara sementara Alex Marquez masih dalam proses menyesuaikan diri.
“Honda telah mengambil beberapa krew saya dan situasi ini amat mengecewakan. Mereka sepatutnya cuba bantu untuk menguatkan jentera saya bukan sebaliknya.
“Mereka seharusnya memulangkan tiga individu terbabit kerana mereka akan memberi kesan besar terhadap jentera saya berbanding Alex yang masih lagi dalam proses menyesuaikan diri dengan jentera MotoGP.
“Tetapi mereka menolak permintaan saya, jadi saya terpaksa menerima keputusan ini,” jelasnya.
Marc Marquez says he wants the fastest bike on the MotoGP grid.
To him an easier bike to ride will benefit other Honda riders too.
Honda is currently working on a number of areas to improve the RC213V even more.
“If you have an easier bike (to ride), it will help all the Honda riders. But my target is to have the fastest bike.” That’s what 8-time world and current MotoGP champion Marc Marquez said at the conclusion of the first of the 2020 off-season tests at Valencia.
‘It doesn’t matter if it’s difficult or not, what I want is try to win. It doesn’t matter if I have to push more or less on the riding,” he continued.
Indeed, of the four Honda riders in 2019, Marc was the only one completed the season in the top eight. He scored 12 wins and 6 second places with just one DNF in 19 rounds. He almost singlehandedly won Honda’s constructor championship and Repsol Honda’s team championship. While he did this, other Honda riders were crashing their brains out and one broke his back and quit racing altogether.
He finished the tests seventh fastest, but don’t count on the results as the riders, teams and manufacturers are still trying out new stuff.
“I’m very happy about the test, we tried the first steps of the 2020 bike. The first steps on the engine, some evolutions on the chassis, to try to understand. Negatives and positives like always. But overall. We did a good test and now in days we will be in Jerez. There I think it will be even better to understand the level of the new bike.”
He also said that the team is working on new aerodynamics while not concentrating too much on electronics. The two main problems that he sees are Yamaha’s strong corner exits and the Honda’s last part of braking when turning into corners.
The first area could be seen with Fabio Quartararo’s unexpected and amazing form, as well as Maverick Vinalez’s constant challenge at the end of the season.
The second concern was evident in the number of front end crashes by Marquez and Crutchlow throughout the season.
Alex Marquez is confirmed as Marc Marquez’s part in Repsol Honda for 2020.
It ends speculation that the brothers will be riding in one team.
The seat was left vacant by retiree Jorge Lorenzo.
Prior “wild speculations” of Alex Marquez joining his brother Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda team for the 2020 MotoGP season has been confirmed.
Younger brother Alex is the 2019 Moto2 champion, while Marc in the eight-time world champion (sixth in MotoGP) including this year.
Alex had long being compared to the exploits of his brother, much like how it was for the Schumacher brother in Formula 1. The younger sibling finally captured his first Moto2 title this year.
However, both Repsol Honda manager Alberto Puig and Marc denied that drafting in Alex was because of the Marquez namesake. Puig had commented earlier that it would be based on merit. Marc Marquez, on the other hand, insisted that he didn’t push Honda to take to Alex.
Speculations were rife as soon as after Jorge Lorenzo announced his retirement from racing, thereby vacating his Repsol Honda seat. There were “talks” of Johann Zarco getting the tap over LCR Honda riders Cal Crutchlow or Takaaki Nakagami but it was not to be, despite the fact that Zarco was a two-time Moto2 champion.
LCR Honda will stick to their current rider line-up for 2020. Despite being a satellite team, Crutchlow is actually under HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) contract, while Nakagami brought in Idemitmu as one of the team’s main sponsors.
That leaves poor Zarco without a seat. His only options are to join Avintia Ducati (which he already said he didn’t want to) or return to Moto2 and take up Alex Marquez’s seat at Marc VDS.
Meskipun terdapat ura-ura yang mengatakan Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade akan muncul dengan enjin V4 sepertimana yang terdapat pada jentera RC213V namun model baharu itu masih mengekalkan enjin empat in-line bagi 2020.
Bagaimanapun, jentera baharu ini difahamkan lahir menerusi kerjasama rapat dengan Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).
Jentera baharu ini menghasilkan 217hp pada 14,500rpm dan 113Nm pada 12,500rpm lebih tinggi berbanding model SP sedia ada.
Bagi memastikan prestasi enjin kekal efisien, Honda mendakwa telah menggunakan aspek teknikal yang terdapat pada jentera MotoGP mereka.
Pada masa sama, model baharu ini lebih besar berbanding model terdahulu namun dengan bantuan HRC, setiap bahagian piston adalah 5 peratus lebih ringan.
Menariknya, bagi memastikan suhu enjin terkawal, penggunaan sistem multi-point dan multi-directional semburan minyak hanya beroperasi ketika berada dalam rpm tinggi. Apabila berada rpm rendah, saluran minyak ditutup bagi memastikan tekanan minyak berada di tahap optimum.
Sementara itu, penggunaan kerangka aluminium dan swingarm yang lebih panjang diinspirasikan daripada rekaan RC213V-S.
Model standard menggunakan fork Big Piston (BPF) Showa 43mm dan penyerap hentakan belakang Showa Balance Free Rear Cushion Light (BFRC-L) boleh laras) serta kaliper brek empat piston oleh Nissin manakala versi SP menggunakan fork depan Ohlins NPX 43mm dan Ohlins Object Based Tuning generasi kedua bagi mengawal tetapan depan dan belakang.
Versi SP turut mengguna pakai kaliper brek Brembo Stylema empat piston sementara model standard didatangkan dengan kaliper brek Nissin.
Sistem aerodinamik yang terdapat pada jentera MotoGP Honda turut dipinjamkan ke Fireblade baharu dengan penggunaan winglet.
Nak tahu lebih lanjut mengenai jentera baharu ini? Mungkin Marc Marquez boleh jelaskan.
Alvaro Bautista is rumored to return to MotoGP to ride with KTM.
The rumors came to light despite another rumor linking him to Honda in WorldSBK in 2020.
Which way will he go?
Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista is rumored to return to MotoGP to ride with KTM.
Bautista was earlier rumoured to be moving to the Honda’s HRC factory team and remain in WorldSBK 2020. It was also heavily speculated that he will be riding a new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. Honda is expected to unveil the all-new bike at the Tokyo Motor Show this October, and the team will be based in Barcelona.
He had migrated to the WorldSBK for the 2019 season, riding the new Ducati Panigale V4 R for Ducati Corse. However, his form fell by the wayside despite having dominated the field earlier in the season by winning 12 races in a row.
His relationship with the Italian team soured since then. Alvaro then revealed that he would be leaving the team at the end of the season but did not mention where he was going to. His boss, the Ducati Corse Sporting Director, Paolo Ciabatti confirmed that the rider has signed a two-year deal with a “rival manufacturer.”
But now as KTM is searching for a rider to fill the vacancy left by Johann Zarco in the factory Red Bull KTM Racing Team, Bautista’s name came to the fore.
The question was brought up during the Tank Slappers podcast. Motorsport.com Global MotoGP Editor Oriol Puigdemont and Autosport’s Motorcycle Racing Correspondent Lewis Duncan discussed the compelling possibilities.
Please click on the link below to listen to the podcast.
Honda MotoGP Team admits it will be “challenging” to manage the relationship of both riders.
The manufacturer will also have to build a bike which suits both riders.
Pundits are rubbing their hands together in glee to see how it works out.
Repsol Honda MotoGP Team, like everyone else knows it when they signed Jorge Lorenzo to partner Marc Marquez. It has always been known that different riders have not only different riding styles but also different personalities. Besides that, it obviously no secret how they demand for the equipment to suit their riding styles.
There have been many times when the manufacturer builds a motorcycle which favours the No. 1 rider – he who finished the previous season in a higher position than his teammate.
Marquez and his Repsol Honda MotoGP team
As such, many MotoGP pundits are wondering how Marc Marquez and Honda will cope with Jorge Lorenzo when he moves to the team next year from Ducati.
Although the signing of Lorenzo gives Honda two MotoGP title-winning riders in the same team since Eddie Lawson partnered with Wayne Gardner in 1989, Repsol Honda MotoGP team Boss, Alberto Puig admits that it’ll be a challenge to manage the mercurial pair’s relationship.
“Of course, not easy,” he said during the press conference at the Sachsenring, “But if wanted things to be easy, probably we wouldn’t run a team at this level. It’s complicated, but it’s a challenge.”
Marquez rides a V-shaped line – from MotoGP.com
On the rationale behind signing up Lorenzo, Puig replied, “The understanding is that the team wants to have the best riders, this is the principle. The possibility to sign him up was there and we took it. For Honda it’s important to prepare the best bikes we can and give them to the riders that are faster.”
Speaking about the “best bikes,” Honda will have their hands full in building a bike that suits the riding styles of both riders. Marquez rides a “V-shaped” line: Brakes late, snaps the bike over at the apex and stands it back up early, using the engine’s power to blast away. Lorenzo’s style is the opposite: He uses the traditional “long arc” of braking early and carrying more corner speed, hence he needs the most stability at the turn in and most lean angle.
Jorge Lorenzo carries more corner speed hence needs lots of lean angle – from MotoGP.com
“We don’t know Jorge, which kind of machine he wants,” said Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) General Manager Tetshuhiro Kuwata, “But of course we will try to adapt to his requirements. And also Marc has a lot of requests to us, and we try to achieve this.”
Kuwata-San rubbished claims that the current RC213V is developed entirely around Marc Marquez’s needs, “Now we are developing for Marc and also for Dani. It’s not only for one rider. So we will continue the same way next year.”
The 2018 Honda CBR1000RRW has been unveiled to compete in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race.
The bike will be handled by the HRC full factory team to bring the fight to Yamaha who has been dominating the scene.
Takumi Takahashi together two other Honda riders from MotoGP or WorldSBK will race this baby at the end of July 2018.
As the competition heats up for this year’s Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race, giant Japanese manufacturer Honda has unveiled the 2018 Honda CBR1000RRW with high hopes to conquer the entire field. This bike will be operated by the HRC full factory squad for the very first time in this race series. (more…)
Honda telah mengumumkan bahawa akan adanya satu lagi penyertaan baru bagi perlumbaan ketahanan Suzuka 8 Hours 2018 bersama dengan pasukan pengilang HRC mereka.
Pengumuman ini dibuat setelah Yamaha Factory Racing Team memenangi perlumbaan ikonik buat tiga tahun yang lalu.
Pengeluar tersohor dari Jepun itu mungkin juga bakal menggunakan penunggang utama mereka dari siri perlumbaan MotoGP dan WorldSBK bagi memperbaiki peluang mereka bagi tahun 2018.
Honda has announced that there will be a new entry in the 2018 Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race with their HRC factory squad.
This announcement came to be after the Yamaha Factory Racing Team has won the iconic race for the past three years.
The giant red Japanese manufacturer might even bring their top riders from WorldSBK and MotoGP to improve their chances in 2018.
One of the world’s greatest motorcycle endurance races that is the Suzuka 8 Hours will see a major shift in major league players for the year 2018. After three years of dominance from the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in July earlier this year (which also marked the race’s 40th anniversary), Honda has decided that it’s time to bring out their big guns. (more…)
Pramac Ducati has announced that their 2018 MotoGP season will see Jack Miller as one of their riders.
Together with current rider Danilo Petrucci, both riders will pilot the Ducati Desmosedici GP17 next year.
The Pramac offer was on the table for Miller for quite some time but he only confirmed it now as the 22 year old Aussie couldn’t strike a suitable deal with his current Marc VDS squad and HRC.
The Pramac Ducati MotoGP squad has recently announced that Jack Miller will be racing for them in the 2018 season. For the first time in his racing career, Miller will be riding the Ducati Desmosedici race machine alongside his confirmed team mate, Danilo Petrucci. (more…)
Penunggang kelahiran Malaysia, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman telah berjaya menduduki tempat di atas podium di tempat ke-dua bersama dengan pasukan Kawasaki Team Green bagi perlumbaan Suzuka 8 Hours 2017 FIM World Endurance Championship pada hari Ahad lalu.
Bersama dengan penunggang BSB, Leon Haslam, dan penunggang dari Jepun,Kazuma Watanabe, Team Green merangkul tempat ke-dua dibelakang pasukan Yamaha Factory Racing Team yang membawa pulang kemenangan ke-tiga berturut-turut.
Pasukan F.C.C TSR Honda menamatkan perlumbaan di tempat ke-tiga dengan jentera perlumbaan mereka, Honda CBR1000R SP2 yang telah dikemudi oleh Randy de Puniet, Dominique Aegerter dan Josh Hook.
