Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa urged to start faster

Honda boss Shuhei Nakamoto doesn’t believe it is only machine tweaks that will boost Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of ending Jorge Lorenzo’s revival in the 2013 MotoGP title chase.

Lorenzo is renowned for his lightning starts on Yamaha’s factory YZR-M1 and his latest triumph in Misano earlier this month came courtesy of a stunning first three-lap charge.

The reigning world champion, who still trails Marquez by 34-points with only five races remaining, was over two seconds clear of his Repsol Honda rivals after just three laps in Misano.

Pedrosa said a lack of edge grip blunted his early challenge while rookie sensation Marquez said he struggled with corner entry in Misano on a full fuel load.

But Nakamoto believes Marquez and Pedrosa need to be faster to counter Lorenzo’s blistering early speed, much like retired Aussie Casey Stoner was when he was at HRC.

Stoner too was famed for his fast starts and confidence to push on fresh Bridgestone tyres and Nakamoto told MCN: “Honda riders have to try something different because Casey was able to do this. He could be fast from the beginning, so this is not the machine but more riding.  Riders must attack more in the first three laps.

Before only Casey did this and even when he was at Ducati. This means it is down to the rider. The (Misano) winner was Jorge, not Yamaha.”