Recovery of Mark Marquez He is getting better and better and from what they say about those around him, every day is a step forward. Physically, Márquez is getting back in shape and mentally he is at his best. Gone are the doubts about his future as a driver and now he is one hundred percent focused on the process of returning to maximum competitiveness. Know that for this, a part is your responsibility and the other HRCMarc has decided to also get involved in what corresponds to Honda.
And this commitment goes through the presence in the team’s garage during the next races. if it will be in Silverstone this weekend or during the next GP of AustriaWe will find out in the next few days. Obviously Marc will not ride the bike, but he will participate in the evolution process of the current bike, so disappointing in the first part of the season.
How is it possible ? How to help engineers and technicians without piloting? He will do this in two ways. The first, by his mere presence, acting as a leader, which Marc did in the dressing room of the Repsol Honda Team since his arrival in 2013. Seeing how the one who won them one title after another takes a step forward, will undoubtedly give the team an extra dose of motivation.
The second way to contribute will be more pragmatic. You will review what you hear and see from technicians and pilots. Marc has very clearly in his memory the sensations he had on his bike before stopping to undergo the fourth operation on his right humerus. He knows very well what he liked about the bike and what he didn’t like, and for sure he will have told the engineers who worked at full throttle during the summer break what he needs his bike to do in terms of chassis, engine and electronics. . Something like “I want to feel the front end more on corner entry”, “I need the engine response between 2000 and 3000 rpm to be smoother, but a little fuller between 7000 and 8 000 rpm”, “You need more mechanical grip in the first phase of acceleration.” Or things like that.
By listening to other Honda riders, doing telemetry with the technicians and observing from the side of the track, Marc can get an idea of the new character of the Honda for the second part of the season, which should form the basis for 2023. .
But it is no less true that due to the differences in riding style between the riders, Márquez will not be able to certify the reality until he gets on the bike himself. But being on the front line, even without being able to put on overalls, will help the process of evolution.
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In this sense, there are two clearly distinct aspects. One is for upgrades Marc doesn’t need on the bike, and the other is for subjective upgrades. Stefan Bradl, the Honda test rider and who rides the bike of Márquez in his absence, for example, can work perfectly on a new clutch, the results of which are measurable. Or it can be used to verify the load differences generated by a change in aerodynamics, quantifiable by sensors. Or maybe it’s the one that evaluates the evolution of the variable altitude system, whose effectiveness before the summer break Honda clearly lagged Aprilia or Ducati. These are general improvements, not specific to the handling of either driver.
One last question. It will be interesting to see how HRC will work on the evolution of its bike with two of its riders who have announced their departure to other factories at the end of the season. in 2023 Pol Espargaro will compete in the ranks of KTM and Alex Marquez it will in those of Ducati. Although the official speech probably says otherwise, by pure logic Honda will not inform them of their future plans, so to shape their 2023 bike in the HRC box they will essentially have two of their four riders: Takaaki Nakagami and Stefan Bradl.
One more reason to understand the importance of the presence of Marc Márquez in the Repsol Honda Team box. Will it be this weekend in England?