As stated, Dani’s performance has plummeted since the back end of last season when fresh from his CTS surgery he looked reborn. Aragon ’15 was one of the most impressive races I’ve seen him run in his career and certainly in the premier class – so what’s changed? One would be tempted to solely attribute this to the new tyres, but in addition to this we also have a new engine with counter rotating crankshaft and control ECU software in addition to the myriad of changes associated with a prototype series. Very often, as Lorenzo’s detractors are fond of pointing out, a slump in form is simply attributed to psychological aversions and a lack of adaptability – but certainly, if the bike isn’t coming to you, if you have no feel not only are you going to be slow but your confidence is shot. As ever, I don’t think you can isolate a sole factor in this. It’s a range of variables – some more significant that others but without doubt, a complex interrelated factors involving rider, style, set up and machinery.
As Pov immediately highlighted at Qatar, Honda were woefully down on acceleration from the off which I think has been a hugely significant change. It’s not as though they are deficient in horsepower, the bike pulls well in higher gears, it’s getting it to the ground out of a corner (a particular strength of the Yamaha’s from last season), and that drive is hampered by inconsistent delivery. So why does this afflict Pedrosa who is only marginally lighter than Márquez and given that both are afflicted by corner exit wheelies?
Tyres? I would suggest that Marc’s front loaded style allows him to run a more optimal balance than Pedrosa. The increased grip afforded by the Michelin rear means that the rear wheel can be seated further back and it’s probable that Marc’s front heavy style allows him to run a longer bike than Pedrosa. That’s what I’m seeing anyway. Less wheelies, improved drive.
Last year, I maintained that the RCV was not only the hardest bike to ride on the grid, but as a consequence, the most difficult to master and go fast on. Despite his diminutive size, Márquez excels at muscling the beast around a circuit and like Stoner, flirting with the limits and taking the bike beyond the envelope that many other riders feel comfortable in (witness his incredible save last weekend at Brno). On the Bridgestones, many riders tried to emulate Lorenzo’s insanely fast corner speed and fluid smooth riding…they understand what he does but the machine set up is so alien and unorthodox that they are unable to duplicate it. Similarly, when following Rossi in his maiden year, Ben Spies said that he understood what he was doing, he just lacked the talent and experience to do it yet. But, when following Stoner, he was utterly unable to comprehend how anyone was able to ride a motorcycle in the way that he did. Some have made the same observations about Márquez. The only other rider that I can think of that elicited similar laudable respect from his peers other than Mike Hailwood, was Eddie Lawson.
Strange then that Pedrosa’s style has often been branded ‘Lawson-esque’. However, he has had to depart from his preferred smooth style charateristic of the 800cc formula – which as Jum correctly observes, was tailor made for him together with the bike. Another very significant point made by Jumkie is that Dani has been forced to sacrifice some of his finesse to adapt to a brutal, rawer and less refined RCV under the lead of Stoner and now Marquez. Incidentally, I originally coined the phrase ‘Pedrocycle’ later becoming part of the ‘Powerslide’ vernacular. So named because the dimensions of the woeful RCV212 were made to measure and completely screwed the defending champion who with his broad frame discovered that overnight cramming onto this toy, he had the aerodynamic qualities of a breeze block. Pedrosa lacks the physicality of Márquez and certainly struggles to compensate for the deficiencies of the RCV by overriding it. Crutchlow rides as hard as anyone but by his own admission is not as good as Marc which means he’s either very fast or in a smoldering heap in the gravel.
To me, in spite of as Jum mentions the army of HRC engineers availed to Dani - clambering over his bike at every available opportunity; like their satellite counterparts, they seem to be suffering more than any other marque with the mandatory software. Each circuit seems to throw up a different problem at which point, the finicky and temperamental RCV refuses to be tamed and tweaked, not responding to the cruder refinements from the reversion to prehistoric software and the characteristic pumping which as dialed out under the old sophisticated electronics once again plagues the rider. At Le Mans, a succession of short acceleration corners in lower gears cursed them with wheelies; in Mugello, where the corners are more flowing and sequential, problems arose at the corner exits when the Honda became very unstable as the riders tried to apply available power and at Red Bull Ring it was traction again out of the stop and go corners – traditionally a Honda hunting ground. Moreover, when the temperature drops, Dani in particular struggles to get heat into the new Michelin’s – a harder feat than the Bridgestones. There is an abundance of power still – the loss from the backwards crankshaft is negligible.
Nakamoto insists that it’s not the tyres but the electronics that have hammered a world beating machine into submission and emasculated the once indomitable all-conquering 2013 RCV. He would say that, but he is also adamant that there have been very few changes to the RCV since then. I’m sure Marc for one would beg to differ. He also maintains that the open class RC213v RS models ridden by Hayden and Miller last year in spite of the head start on the software packages yielded little in the way of useable data because this year’s software bears no resemblance. That’s strange, Ducati claim otherwise. Perhaps it was more to do with the fact that you put your riders out on machinery that would struggle to qualify on a WSB grid and bore about as much resemblance to fully fledged prototype factory Repsol ride as Barry’s Hyosong.
Honda have tested on the new Michelin’s using the old custom electronics and are able to surmount many of the problems – but significantly Pedrosa was not. Like I say, there is an abundance of power, they simply can’t get it to ground using the new mandated package.
In my opinion, although a contributory factor, purely attributing Pedrosa’s slump in fortunes to the reversion to Michelin tyres is a false cause fallacy.
What’s the title of this thread again? Oh yeah…’Only two Honda riders yet to win a race in 2016’. Although both masterful displays of wet weather riding, Miller prevailed in a restarted short sprint lottery in horrendous conditions and Crutchlow gambled on a successful formula which only one other rider elected to run. Rabat is neither as opportunistic or capable of being as fast as Cal or Jack. And what of the phlegmatic Pedrosa? – He remains pragmatic as ever, but aside from the current maladies, he fears for the future holding that the bike is nearing the end of its development cycle. Perhaps in this particular case, such speculation over shelf life is more applicable to the rider.
