Photo: Repsol Honda
Talking to MotoGP.com, HRC Executive VP Shuhei Nakamoto confirms that Team Red is still a month or so behind their schedule with the new production racer machine they plan to lease to the other willing teams. He also says the factory will increase efforts to catch up and the new machine will be ready for 2014.
The new bike is derived directly from the current racing prototype, the RC213V, and the engine will sport some differences: while they may not seem too drastic, we can vouch they will account for a slightly slower pace for the production bike.
The most important changes in the RC-derived engine are the absence of pneumatic valves and the replacement of the "seamless" quickshift gearbox with conventional ones.
On the other hand, the teams receiving the Honda production racer will benefit from the extra 4 liters of fuel allowed by the CRT rules and this may be a great help: the teams could tune the engine for obtaining more power, thus compensating a bit for the lower revs of the conventional valves.
What's really new about the new bike is that Honda will have it running with Nissin brakes and Showa suspensions. Not exactly a surprise, given the fact that they're in the game for money and both brands are under Honda umbrella.
Some might see this move as a slight innuendo hinting that Nissin and Showa are not as good as Brembo and Öhlins for MotoGP racing purposes, but we just know that the teams have an immense inertia when it comes to changing gear.
On the other hand, imagine the huge amount of real-life, on-track data both Nissin and Showa will have after these bikes start racing in 2014. It's going to be like Christmas for them, and we are really expecting better street-bike products in the future.
The most important changes in the RC-derived engine are the absence of pneumatic valves and the replacement of the "seamless" quickshift gearbox with conventional ones.
On the other hand, the teams receiving the Honda production racer will benefit from the extra 4 liters of fuel allowed by the CRT rules and this may be a great help: the teams could tune the engine for obtaining more power, thus compensating a bit for the lower revs of the conventional valves.
What's really new about the new bike is that Honda will have it running with Nissin brakes and Showa suspensions. Not exactly a surprise, given the fact that they're in the game for money and both brands are under Honda umbrella.
Some might see this move as a slight innuendo hinting that Nissin and Showa are not as good as Brembo and Öhlins for MotoGP racing purposes, but we just know that the teams have an immense inertia when it comes to changing gear.
On the other hand, imagine the huge amount of real-life, on-track data both Nissin and Showa will have after these bikes start racing in 2014. It's going to be like Christmas for them, and we are really expecting better street-bike products in the future.
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