Alex Rins gets new Honda chassis for Le Mans, but…
UPDATE: Marc Marquez and Joan Mir have confirmed they will use the Kalex chassis this weekend.
However, it won’t be the much talked about Kalex design, debuted by Stefan Bradl at the recent Jerez test, but the frame previoulsy used by Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir.
The 2023 season started with Mir and team-mate Marc Marquez using different frame evolutions at the factory team, while LCR riders Rins and Takaaki Nakagami ran the ‘standard’ version.
Rins was then given one of Marquez’s frames when the Spaniard was sidelined by injury in Argentina, before reverting to the normal version for his debut Honda victory in COTA.
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The #42 then got to try the other new frame, used by former Suzuki team-mate Mir, during the recent Jerez test - when all attention was on the Kalex design used by Bradl and very briefly Mir - and will now continue with that frame on one bike at Le Mans.
“I tested the chassis that Joan is using and honestly I took some positive points, some negative points, so we will give it another chance here,” Rins said on Thursday.
“I have one bike with my [frame] and another bike with Joan’s one. So let's see if we can take some clear [conclusions].
“I don't know yet the plan but for sure in P1 and P2 we will compare both chassis.”
Asked when he might get the chance to try the Kalex, Rins replied: “Honestly, I don't know. They didn't give me a date. They know that I'm ready.”
Rins is currently eighth and Honda's top rider in the world championship standings.
There are rumours that Marquez, making his return from injury this weekend, and Mir might try the Kalex during Practice in France.
Nakagami said he will have no technical changes for his LCR bikes in Le Mans and hasn't tried a different chassis "since Sepang".
"It makes it simple, the bike doesn’t change anything, so we will try to do our best and be competitive," he said.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
