P122
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
H
ow do you make the per-
fect racing bike? Back in
the days of the two-stroke
500s, I recall legendary crew
chief Kel Carruthers's answer:
"It's what worked last year, plus
a few percent."
The answer today would be
just the same.
In other words, to be able to
improve enough to remain com-
petitive, you need a good bike to
start with. Which kind of makes it
difficult for newcomers to catch
up, as KTM, and to a greater
extent, Aprilia, are demonstrating
all too clearly.
At the same time, even if you
are already strong, it isn't always
easy to find that few percent.
And all the more so when rules
freeze engine development dur-
ing the season.
Both the dominant factories
have demonstrated that. Honda
got into quite a muddle after
2014—Marquez's second sea-
son—when he won 11 of the first
12 races, and then two more into
the bargain.
His RC213V was at a pitch of
development that was already
hard to improve upon, and then
TO BE BETTER, YOU HAVE TO
START OFF GOOD
The quest for better never ends.
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
