- Repsol Honda teah memperkenalkan jentera bagi kempen MotoGP 2019.
- Ianya adalah ulang tahun ke-25 kerjasama antara Repsol dan Honda.
- Beberapa buah ‘pengubahsuaian’ dapat dilihat pada jentera Jorge Lorenzo, kemasan grafik pada jentera 2019 kekal sama.
For those waiting to see the 2019 Repsol Honda bike were surely disappointed as the livery remains unchanged.
Many had expected a new colour scheme as the Spanish petroleum giant and Honda celebrate the 25thanniversary of their collaboration. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the stale same-ol’-same-ol’ stripes.
However, there seem to be a few notable differences on Jorge Lorenzo’s bike (pictured above).
The launch was held at the Sentul circuit in Indonesia. Current riders Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were joined by past Repsol Honda champions Mick Doohan and Alex Creville.
The Repsol-Honda partnership began in 1994 when Doohan won the first of his five world 500cc GP championship. Alex Creville won the 1999 championship when Doohan crashed heavily during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez and retired.
Of course, both current riders spewed team savvy answers about how happy they are with the team, how they are confident in winning, yada, yada, yada.
Marc Marquez will be in action at the shakedown test from 1st to 3rd February prior to the first 2019 pre-season testing from 6th to 8th February. Both tests will be held at the Sepang International Circuit.
Marc Marquez had another crazy MotoGP season in 2018 but sealing the championship was what mattered most.
He then went a surgery to correct his left should which he first dislocated in 2013 after the post-season tests at Valencia and Jerez. Dr. Xavier Mir, MotoGP’s surgeon found that the damage required complex surgery to fix. Dr. Mir said after the surgery, “I do not understand how Marc was able to win the world title like that.”
Marquez is now working hard on the road towards full fitness as part of his six-week recovery plan. He needs to be in shape for the first 2019 HRC shakedown test from 1stto 3rdFebruary. The first official pre-season test (Winter Test) is from 6thto 8thFebruary. Both tests will be held at the Sepang International Circuit.
The 5-time World Champion is currently working with physiotherapist Carlo Garcia who is part of the Clinica Mobile medical team.
Marquez suffered recurring shoulder dislocation throughout 2018, including when Scott Redding congratulated him during the celebrations at Motegi.
Avanzando en la recuperación. Primeros ejercicios de estabilidad!
Recovery in progress. First stability exercises!?? pic.twitter.com/j2jKRMdLWQ— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) January 7, 2019
Marc Marquez may had captured his fifth MotoGP crown in 2018, but he also tops the crash list.
Marquez hit the ground 23 times last year, ahead of Alvaro Bautista who found the kitty litter on 21 occasions. The former would have destroyed many more bikes if not for his superhuman feats in saving sure crashes. However, 23 crashes are an improvement over the 2017 season during which he wiped out 27 times.
The world champion crashed mostly in practice sessions as he pushed his tyres and bikes to discover their limits. He will then know how much he could push during the race.
Other Top 5 crashers were Xavier Simeon (18), and Cal Crutchlow tying with Jack Miller at 17.
Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin fell 9 times.
However, Marquez’s number of crashes pales in comparison to riders of the other classes. Stefano Manzi (whose front brake lever was squeezed by Romano Fenati) went belly up 31 times in Moto2. Manzi was followed by Lowes (27), Marco Bezzecchi (24), Jorge Navarro (24), Gabriel Rodigro (22). Marc Marquez would have slipped in 5thplace.
There were 303 crashes in MotoGP, 418 in Moto2 and 356 in Moto3. That totals up to 1,077. The number is a reduction from 1,126 in 2017.
With 77 points ahead of his closest rival this year who happens to be Andrea Dovisioso from Ducati and also having obtained the worst qualifying session of the season in sixth, Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda has been crowned the 2018 MotoGP world champion at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan! (more…)
All eyes were on Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez as he set out to make a good show for his 100th premier class appearance in MotoGP. Too bad that Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso had to steal his limelight by storming through the qualifying session which will see him starting today’s Monster Energy Grand Prix of the Czech Republic in pole position. (more…)
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.
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.”
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.
“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.”
