MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez praised the new 2018 prototype engine Honda brought to the Valencia test, but admits he still has ‘doubts’ about the chassis upgrade he also tried.
Marquez had three bikes to work with during the two–day test at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit: the bike he raced in Valencia, a 2017 bike with a new chassis, and a 2018 prototype.
LCR’s Cal Crutchlow labelled the 2018 prototype as ‘special’ after he tried it on Tuesday, while Marquez – who ended the test fastest of all, setting his best lap on Wednesday on the 2017 bike – heaped praise on the new engine.
The Spaniard was pleased with the low and top-end power he could extract from the new motor, and felt the engine worked well with Honda’s electronic set-ups – an issue which plagued the team druing the 2017 pre-season when it rolled out its ‘big-bang‘ engine.
“Always when you get a new engine they try to give more power to you, and we gained, especially on the bottom, we gained a little bit more power,” Marquez explained.
“Also in the top, we gained there. Still they are looking forward to doing more steps. Like always, they are trying to improve the performance.
“I’m happy because it’s the first time that with such a new engine I feel inside the parameters, you know?
“Normally every year I was starting here and we were talking one year ago here, saying the electronics are not there, we need to work on the electronics.
“But, now, it’s inside the parameters in this circuit, but now we need to reconfirm in February.”
One of the main problems with the 2017 bike was its difficulty to ride, with Marquez crashing 27 times as he struggled to find the bike’s limit during a weekend.
The new chassis Honda brought with it for its factory riders to try in Valencia was aimed at addressing this.
However, Marquez – who, until the middle of this season, had run the 2014 frame since the 2015 Dutch TT – says HRC still has much work to do in this area ahead of the Sepang test next year.
“The prototype engine, yes, we can gain there. But we need to work on the chassis area.
“The chassis that we had today, there were many, many new parts, and now we need to understand which part was better, which part was worse.
“But we need to choose. The engine is good. The chassis? (Still, I have) doubts.”
