Honda gearing up for ‘biggest step of the year, full package’ at Misano

After a ‘little upgrade’ to the RC213V’s MotoGP engine in Austria, Repsol Honda team manager Alberto Puig has revealed the factory’s ‘biggest step of the year’ should debut at Misano.

That step, which Puig describes as a ‘full package difference’, is thought to pencilled in for the Official post-race MotoGP test on September 9 rather than this week’s private outing at the Italian track.

“It's true that we made some progress with the throttle connection [with the new engine configuration]. It affects some riders more than others… But the [direction] looks like it’s correct,” Puig told Dorna's Simon Crafar in Austria.

“We have another test soon to reconfirm. And then in Misano we will have the biggest step of the year. Which will not only be an engine or aero, it will be a full package difference.

“We are still not there clearly [but] we know the problems and we are trying to fix them.”

The ‘Austria’ engines were the second evolution of the new spec introduced in Barcelona.

The ‘Barcelona’ engines lacked straight-line performance compared to the standard version but were seen as the first step in the right direction: Joan Mir described them as one step back to take two steps forward in future.

Although Mir and Repsol Honda team-mate Luca Marini both had the revised configuration in Austria, it appears Takaaki Nakagami was first to race the revised powerplants, at Silverstone.

Nakagami received two new engines at the British Grand Prix and did not open any more at the Red Bull Ring, but said he was on the same spec as the Repsol riders.

Nakagami’s LCR team-mate Johann Zarco opened one new engine in Austria, which gave him trouble in the race, but remained on an older spec.

Although Nakagami finished as the top rider on a Japanese bike, in 14th, he played down the significance of the latest engine tweaks.

“It's not a massive step… I mean we cannot decide [if] this package is better or not. In some area the new spec is slightly better, but we are still struggling,” he said.

“In my case, I'm jumping from the ‘Zarco-spec’ [engine] to the new one. For example, Marini went from the other [new] spec to this new one. So maybe he can feel more clearly the difference.  

“But anyway, small things, that little by little we try to solve the problems, step by step!”

Nakagami confirmed he had felt “some positive feeling from the bike” as he climbed from 22nd on the grid:

“It's a shame that the qualifying session was not really good, but I knew for the long distance, if I do no mistakes, at least the target was to be the fastest Honda.”

Mir’s grand prix was much bleaker, finishing in 17th place and 40 seconds from race winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).

“A challenge honestly to finish the race. Difficult to have worse feelings [than] I had,” concluded Mir, who had been looking forward to the revised engine configuration only to experience unexpected problems with it at the Red Bull Ring.

“I cannot see a specific area where I can be competitive,” he added. “On straight braking, I was locking the front. Then my bike was spinning a lot. You have a constant floating feeling that you cannot control.

“Then the drop of the tyre is bigger than the others, because we spin more and overheat the tyres more than the others. And also at the beginning of the race in the group I had to slow down because my front tyre pressure was in the moon. So I was not really able to push.”

The Spaniard is now pinning his hopes on progress during the upcoming series of tests and race weekends.

“We have quite a busy schedule because we have testing in Misano on Wednesday, for one day. Then in Aragon [GP], we will try more things. In Misano race and Misano test again we will try more things, different engine configurations," Mir said.

Suzuki’s 2020 world champion backed up Puig’s comments by stating that the Misano test items will include ‘some big things’.

“We will try something to help on the grip, some big things that I think can help us to understand what is the direction for next year.”

Team-mate Marini, perhaps the most upbeat of the Honda riders in recent events after climbing from the bottom of the timesheets, failed to finish Sunday’s grand prix due to a technical problem.

“New engine is a big word. I’d say a little upgrade,” was how the Italian described the Austria spec configuration. “After the Silverstone race we saw Taka’s performance looks a little better, but [still] not enough to [match] the other engines [in a straight line], which are more difficult to ride.”

On Sunday evening, Marini was also looking ahead to the upcoming tests at his local track:

“I think we made a solid weekend, some positive things that will help us for the development of the bike. Now we have an important test in Misano, hopefully the weather will be good.”

This week’s private test should see some aero updates, which Marini indicated would be aimed at the ground effect technology long exploited by the European machines “to make the bike turn and stop in a very good way.”

Swingarm and chassis parts, plus electronics work, are also on the agenda but they are, “little details. Everything is new but not a completely new project. It's slightly better more or less, every update.

“So if you brought the bike from the start of the season here - maybe not for me because I didn't like it, but maybe for Zarco - the difference would be very close. So we have to push more, but I appreciate really the effort that all the engineers are putting into the project.”

Marini then teased that something significant could appear at the official Misano test but appeared to be talking about a specific development rather than the ‘full package’ referred to by Puig.

“There is something that can be big. We will see after I have tried it... So let's wait for the moment that we are going to try that part.”

Marini and Mir have opened 7 out of their 9 engines allowed this season, meaning the Repsol riders have room to try just one more engine design update if introduced to both of their machines ('spare' and 'number one' bike).

The LCR riders have more flexibility for future updates, with Zarco currently on 5 engines and Nakagami on 6.