MotoGP 2015

[ChrisF1]

Honda are reminding me of Rossi at Ducati, with new frames being brought out left right and centre, back to back testing and so on.

When they turned up to a post race test with 4 different frames it was either "Wow, Honda's development team are doing so well to have so many options" or "Honda are completely lost and have no idea about what direction to take" - it's proving to be the latter.

I wonder how Marquez is as a development rider?

[Samraj_official]

Honda is not as dud as the headless ducatis of 12,13 the RC213-V is still better than M1 in terms of top speed its only marquez is not riding within limits of the bike

[eniacon]

Honda is not as dud as the headless ducatis of 12,13 the RC213-V is still better than M1 in terms of top speed its only marquez is not riding within limits of the bike

Anybody can ride a bike fast in a straight line!! Its not about how fast you can go (km/h), its about the lap time, and race time.
People have been labouring on that point for a while now.
Factory Honda is relatively great over a Qualy Lap, not great in Race Trim, regardless of circuit so far.
Factory Yamaha is there or there abouts in Qualy, but miles ahead in Race Trim, regardless of circuit so far.
Factory Suzuki is a little behind in Qualy (even with the softer rear tyre option), and capable of a top 10 in Race Trim, with Catalunya being the exception so far.
Factory Ducati is there or there abouts in Qualy (even with the softer rear tyre option), and capable of podium finish in Race Trim, regardless of circuit so far.
We won't mention Aprillia at all..

[Samraj_official]

Aprilia will only challenge from 2016 with n all new bike , chassis and engine.....but still i believe RC213-V is better than M1, going bu the looks marquez was two tenths up on the fastest Suzuki before spoiling his lap..for honda it was just another bad weekend,which doesnt mean M1 is faster across the whole race than RC213-V

[eniacon]

Aprilia will only challenge from 2016 with n all new bike , chassis and engine.....but still i believe RC213-V is better than M1, going bu the looks marquez was two tenths up on the fastest Suzuki before spoiling his lap..for honda it was just another bad weekend,which doesnt mean M1 is faster across the whole race than RC213-V

1. When was this? Practice, qualy, race?
2. Le Mans - Yamaha finishes 19.8 seconds ahead of nearest Honda, Mugello Yamaha finishes 9.9 seconds clear of nearest Honda, Catalunya Yamaha finishes 19.4 seconds of nearest Honda, FINISH being the operative word here
Maybe it's best to agree to disagree right?

[Juzh]

It's like saying ferrari this year is better than mercedes because Vettel won in malaysia

[Andres125sx]

Honda is not as dud as the headless ducatis of 12,13 the RC213-V is still better than M1 in terms of top speed its only marquez is not riding within limits of the bike

So he´s fallen off his bike on the last three races in a row because it´s fun, right?

[Samraj_official]

Maybe this could give insight into marquez problems this year, from AUTOSPORT
Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi believe the increase in arm problems among MotoGP riders this year is directly related to the technical improvements to their 2015 bikes.

The compartment syndrome condition has long been common among motorcycle riders but there has been an increase in the severity of the issue.

Marquez's Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa underwent "aggressive" arm surgery in April after suffering a reoccurrence of his 2014 arm pump problems.

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Pol Espargo and Avintia Ducati's Hector Barbera also had operations this year to combat the issue, as did Moto2 frontrunner Alex Rins.

Marquez reckons increased power and tyre consistency has allowed riders to be on the limit much more and potentially aggravated arm pump problems, particularly when bikes' set-ups are not to their liking.

"With these bikes you can go really fast and you're pushing a lot," said Marquez.

"Not only one lap but during all the race because the tyres are so consistent too.

"This means you are under stress all the time in the race.

"It also depends on how you ride the bike. For example, last year, I didn't have any problems or any feeling and this year already in some races I have felt something.

"This means that I don't ride in the way I would want to.

"When you are stiff on the bike that is when these problems come.

"I think it's a little bit of everything. A little bit the riding style but also the way that the bikes are now. It also depends on the circuit."

Rossi suggested greater braking forces are a major contributing factor.

"It's curious. For me there must be a technical answer to this problem," he said.

"The pressure that you have on your arms during the braking has increased.

"The Bridgestone front tyre is fantastic. The brakes are always bigger and bigger and also the engine brake of the bike, and for example the seamless braking, help a lot to stop the bike.

"This is all technical force that goes to your arm and in the last year a lot of people have had this problem. I think it's because of this. But for me, fortunately, I don't have a problem."

[radosav]

Great article about Lorenzo's comeback and interview with him!
http://www.sportrider.com/metamorphosis ... SOC&dom=fb

[Andres125sx]

This is the only thing Marquez said about any posible arm problem:

For example, last year, I didn't have any problems or any feeling and this year already in some races I have felt something.

Do you think feeling something is enough to go from dominating on his firts two motogp seasons to fall down on more races he´s finished on the third one?

I can provide you a lot more quotes from Marquez saying how much problems his bike is causing, and how much work Honda need to do to solve the problems. Actually from first test they did past season with 2015 bike they both (Marquez and Pedrosa) started complaining about 2015 bike, neither of them liked it from the very first test

[Samraj_official]

Can we expect Marquez to bounce back to his former superior form if he opts to run the 14er RC213-V?

[turbof1]

Difficult to tell. The chassis will be of last year, but the engine, suspension system, electronics, etc. will be of this year. If it helps driveability, he'll use it. However, it'll never be the dominance of last year. Honda are simply behind on development, perhaps as far as a full year behind. Even if Marquez can get back to his agressive drivestyle, it will still not make up for what remains an inferior race-trim bike.

Yamaha is already testing a new chassis. Might be for this year, might be for next year. But they are making steps forward while Honda takes a step back, trying to figure out if the 2014 chassis is actually better.

I think that unless Honda stubbornly clings on to this season, they'll probably stop putting development effort in this year and focus on next year. They might try to get better driveability with the tools they have, but that'll be it.

[Samraj_official]

It must be very bad honda for them to completely annihilate the competetion for one year and then search for spnners and nuts the next year, any as honda himself said " Success is 99%failure" so there is hope for them. As for yamahas hats off for their hardword in making M1 a force to be reckoned with and inspiring lorenzo to get back to form .........so far until this point we cant predict the championshio as we still have a long way to go!!!!!!!!!

[JimClarkFan]

Difficult to tell. The chassis will be of last year, but the engine, suspension system, electronics, etc. will be of this year. If it helps driveability, he'll use it. However, it'll never be the dominance of last year. Honda are simply behind on development, perhaps as far as a full year behind. Even if Marquez can get back to his agressive drivestyle, it will still not make up for what remains an inferior race-trim bike.

Yamaha is already testing a new chassis. Might be for this year, might be for next year. But they are making steps forward while Honda takes a step back, trying to figure out if the 2014 chassis is actually better.

I think that unless Honda stubbornly clings on to this season, they'll probably stop putting development effort in this year and focus on next year. They might try to get better driveability with the tools they have, but that'll be it.

Honda haven't really improved since mid season last year. The Barcelona times in the FP this year where very close to the times that the Honda set last year. So the Honda isn't really any worse, or any better than last years version, it seems like a sideways step.

The 'problems' Honda have in my opinion are as a direct result of Yamaha being significantly faster than last year. When the Yamaha is roughly 0.5 seconds a lap faster the Honda riders are suddenly finding they have to get more from their bike exposing the rough edges of the Honda.

I don't think Honda biggest problem is Honda, I think their biggest problem is a vastly improved Yamaha.

[JimClarkFan]

Additionally I have always harbored a suspicion, that those drivers/riders who have very loose driving styles find it difficult to develop their machine because their abilities are off the charts. Whereas drivers who require a fine balance of things tend to drive development to producing a superior machine... just a suspicion.