No corner speed gain for factory Honda

Honda has so far failed in its bid to make its factory RC213V machine a match for Yamaha’s YZR-M1 on corner speed.

Improved corner speed has been a key target for Honda’s technical staff during the off-season.

But after giving reigning world champion Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa a new 2014-spec chassis to test during last week’s three-day MotoGP test in Malaysia, HRC boss Shuhei Nakamoto said data showed no improvement in corner speed.

Corner speed is seen as a big asset for the rival Yamaha YZR-M1, while the main strength for the HRC package has been braking stability.

Increasing corner speed is a task that continues to elude HRC technical staff and Nakamoto told MCN: “Still the Yamaha is better. We hoped that the new chassis in Sepang would be better for corner speed but unfortunately we still have the same result. This is Honda and we have never had good cornering performance.”

The failure to bridge the gap in corner speed to Yamaha certainly didn’t have any impact on Repsol Honda rider Marquez in Sepang.

He dominated the three-day test and topped the timesheets with an unofficial record lap lap of 1.59.533.