Joined Oct 2008
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Forget the bollocks of the past, lets talk testing.
Sounds like they are being extra cautious with the engine for next year.
Marc Marquez was able to assess Honda's 2016 engine after his fourth day of winter testing and stated that, although different in character to the one he raced in 2015, its power delivery is too aggressive.
With Honda switching to Magneti Marelli electronics for the first time in 2016, an overall package very much in its infancy meant neither Marquez nor team-mate Dani Pedrosa were able to fully understand the engine's characteristics.
Yet by Thursday evening Marquez explained how he had encountered similar problems to his first day of testing at Jerez with the electronics and Michelin tyres.
What's more, the 22-year old found the engine to have too much power in the bottom end, with the torque delivery proving to be problematic and too aggressive in its nature.
“Today I ride all day with the Magneti Marelli,” started the double MotoGP champion. “I didn't try again the Honda software, I just concentrated on Magneti Marelli. I tried both engines, but I really concentrated all day with the new engine. Because I think, already, working on the new electronics is slow, takes a lot of time, and I see that with the 2015 engine, and the 2016 engine, we need a completely different map.
“It's a different character of engine. So we just concentrate on the new one, then maybe tomorrow we will try again the old one, but we will see, we must check well now. But still, with one engine or the other one, we are far from the best level of Magneti Marelli, I think.
“It's different,” he explained. “Last year's engine was aggressive in the top. Now we have more power in the bottom, but still we don't understand the way to deliver this torque. It looks like aggressive in the bottom, but then smoother in the top compared with last year, but the thing is that we can reduce, no? So we must work, because if we reduce too much, then we get aggressive in the top, so we must check to find the correct balance.”
On Wednesday, Marquez mentioned he had several scary moments with Michelin's front tyre in faster corners. Having seen fast falls for Michele Pirro and Eugene Laverty, along with his lack of confidence in the front, the Catalan was cautious in the several sweeping bends that punctuate the Jerez track.
“We are struggling. One thing is the front tire, which is still difficult to understand, but Michelin is working there, and I think this will improve. But we know that with the electronics, this is what we have, so we must work with these electronics.
“At the moment, with the tire is new, you can adjust, but the torque is quite aggressive in acceleration, the wheelie is coming too much, some laps more and some laps less, so not consistent but we are working there to try to be more consistent in the exit of the corner with the gas, and this will be much better for the acceleration.
“[I had] A lot [of near crashes] In the moment that you find the limit. Today it was a little bit better, because we worked with the set up, so it was better, but still a few crashes again today, Pirro, Laverty in the fast corners.
“So it's there that we are a little bit careful, because in the slow corners, always you try to push a little bit more, because you are 60kph, 80kph, if you crash, it's slow. But in the fast corners, always you take care, but sometimes you lose the front and you don't know why.”
Sounds like they are being extra cautious with the engine for next year.
Scott Redding was encouraged by the feelings aboard the Pramac Racing Ducati at Jerez as he continued his adaption to Michelin tyres and the GP15 machine.
As was the case in Valencia, Redding had just one bike at his disposal but was fast from the off, quickly posting an early lap of 1m 40.8s before setting an unofficial time of 1m 39.7s, just over a tenth slower than Marc Marquez.
While complimenting the Magneti Marelli electronics package, Redding also felt the power in the lower revs is more manageable to the Honda he rode throughout 2015, with aggressive power delivery on corner exit less of an issue.
Added to that, Redding is beginning to feel accustomed to the feel offered by the Michelin front tyre after putting it under more stress than he had at the post-race test in Valencia two weeks ago.
“It went good," said the 22-year old. "The feeling was good with the bike, especially coming back from Valencia, not going straight from a Honda to a Ducati. Actually having some time off to go onto that bike was quite good. Always at Valencia I felt, not uncomfortable but different. So I felt good straight out of the box, even in my first run I did a 1'40.8s, so to have the feeling there already was quite good.
“We tried a few things with the bike, and it was a little bit better. We were trying more with the weight distribution, more rear, more front, a bit higher, and I just managed to gain more traction during the day, but I just lost a little bit in braking stability. So we are trying to find a combination to get the best of both for tomorrow.
“I'm starting to get more confidence with the front, starting to load a bit more the front. The rear's still not bad. Not a big difference between the hard and the soft rear. Just the main thing is a little bit light feeling on the front in fast corners. And in hard braking I was having some skidding today.
“But it's just trying to find the feel, because there's not a lot of feel with the tires. It just sort of squashes, holds, and then you don't know what's going to happen. So I was playing with lean angle, and just little things.”
On Wednesday Marquez explained how the Michelin front tyre suffered from greater wear and tear to the Bridgestone tyre. While the Japanese rear tyre went off, the front remained consistent through the majority of the race.
Redding elaborated, “That's the problem with it. It drops, not quick, but it drops like a rear tire, whereas the Bridgestone front, the last two or three laps of the race, maybe it will drop. But this one is definitely dropping more like a rear tire, consistently getting worse and worse.
“In Valencia we set up the bike and change something, then the tires dropped, then we put the new one in, and we're like, ...., where do we have to go? So today, it was just letting it be and trying to ride the bike as it is, and just trying to maintain the same lap time without changing the bike. OK, putting in a new tire, OK, we see the improvement.
“But it will be interesting to see the first few races or when people make race runs, how the lap times are, because I feel that with a new tire, first two laps not that great, third lap, optimum lap time, fourth lap, optimum lap time. Then I start to feel a bit of a drop. Then if I go in and come back out again, first two laps it's OK, but then I start to get a drop, then it comes back, so it'll be interesting to see in a race with full fuel what actually happens.”
On the GP15 engine, Redding echoed his comments from Valencia, when he stated how the power “is more manageable of the bottom.”
“It's so easy compared [to the Honda RC213V]. Even today, we're trying to put the weight on the rear, and the other guys complained about wheelies, and I was like, OK, this is still not really a wheelie. OK, it's coming closer, but it's still not wheelie. And I feel good, the power is really manageable off the bottom.
“It's almost too lazy, we have some things to try with engine management to make it a bit more aggressive for me, which I think we'll try tomorrow, but it's just so easy and predictable, especially here. At Valencia, it was a bit more rough, but now, because it's bit bigger circuit, everything is good. I can't say anything negative, it's more noisy, and things are happening and stuff, but actual throttle connection and feel is great.”
Eugene Laverty's winter training programme will be hindered by injury after he broke his left wrist and dislocated his right shoulder in a fall at the close of his second day of testing at Jerez.
Having used Wednesday to bed in the new electronics package, Laverty was beginning to adjust the Aspar Ducati GP14.2 to his liking before a fast fall at turn seven sent him towards the gravel trap.
The Northern Irishman lost the front of the machine just after touching the front brake. The resulting impact broke his left radius bone as well as impacting his head and right shoulder.
“It's a disappointing end to a good day of testing,” said Laverty. “We made good progress with the new electronics and the last exit before I crashed was probably the first time we had the bike working correctly. The lap times were getting better and then I crashed, so I'm disappointed.”
The incident came just an hour after Michele Pirro suffered a similar fall at turn twelve, the second of the fast rights that end the lap. The Italian was fortunate to walk away from the spill.
Laverty was taken to local hospital for a CAT scan and to check for further injuries. He will travel to Barcelona on Friday, where Dr Xavier Mir will conduct surgery on his wrist.
“It would always be nice to do another day but the positive thing is that the bike is working well, we are not too far away from the others and Yonny can continue to test tomorrow. Also the Ducati guys are making a big effort so the aim right now is to recover and return in Sepang in a good way.”
Testing resumed at Jerez on Thursday as the Kawasaki World Superbike squad returned to the track after using Wednesday to assess the data collected at the start of the week.
Both Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea were fast from the off with Sykes' late time of 1m 40.316s his best lap of the week and just 0.01s quicker than his team-mate. Chaz Davies in third was more than one second off their fastest time of the day.
Neither Michael van der Mark nor Alex Lowes were present as the former returned to the Netherlands after complaining of pain in his arm on Wednesday. Lowes meanwhile dislocated his left shoulder after a fast high-side through turn three, leaving him with restricted movement in the joint.
Again, Sylvain Guintoli and his Pata Yamaha YZF-R1 didn't post official lap times but speaking on Thursday afternoon the Frenchman indicated that his pace was extremely competitive with plenty of room to improve on Friday.
In MotoGP, for the first time this week the Pramac Racing and Avintia Ducatis joined Repsol Honda, Aprilia, Honda test riders and Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who had previously tested on Wednesday.
The day was marred by late falls for Michele Pirro (turn twelve) and Eugene Laverty (turn seven), both of which brought out the red flags and a temporary stop to the session.
Laverty was taken to the local hospital with a suspected break in his left radius bone and pain in his right shoulder. He will travel to Barcelona on Friday to assess whether a screw needs to be inserted into the lower arm. Pirro walked away from his spill, albeit with a heavy limp.
While Marc Marquez focused solely on the 2016 Honda engine with new software, Pedrosa continued to test the '15 spec motor with the new model. Both Honda riders and Aprilia's Alvaro Bautista spoke of reduced rear grip, which was potentially because of World Superbike Pirelli rubber laid down on the track.
World Superbike times
1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Provec ZX-10R 1m 40.316s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Provec ZX-10R 1m 40.326s
3. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 40.867s
4. Nicky Hayden USA Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1m 41.004s
5. Xavi Fores ESP Barni Ducati 1199RR 1m 41.040s
6. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 41.047s
7. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR 1m 41.766s
8. PJ Jacobsen USA CORE Thailand Honda CBR600RR 1m 43.521s
Unofficial MotoGP times
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 39.57s
2. Scott Redding GBR Pramac Racing Ducati (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 39.7s
3. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 39.8s
4. Danilo Petrucci ITA Pramac Racing Ducati (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 39.9s
5. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 39.9s
6. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.10s
