Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128344
By MICHAEL IN THE PADDOCK SCOTT A Nice Little Visit popped in to HRC in Tokyo for tea and sandw iches the ot her day. Actually, it was quite an occasion. For the HRC me n ce rt ainly, pursuing their new "candid and open" policy by inviting the press into their hitherto topsecret inner sanctum - amid many nervous glances and the oft-repeated impre cation: " No cameras. No cameras. No I cameras ." And for the me mbe rs of that small inte rnational press party... We saw as much as HRC wan ted us to see. It was both inte resting and i m p r e ssi v e . Honda as a company has always valued e ngineering abo ve all else. It has always been led by engineers, rat her than business moguls or marketing men . The same creed is the mainspring of their racing effort . It kind of goes without saying that once this is in the front of your mind, then riders slip to the back of it. Throttle monkeys playa secondary role . Some are better than others, obviously, but all are dispensable - or interchangeable. They reg ularity, and while he wo n half of the first 12 races, Hond as won the ot her half. But it to ok Honda th ree diffe rent riders to do it . And here lies the weakness for the engineers. Like it or not, they w ill always ultimate ly be hostage to the man at the handlebars. Honda had too many nearly men this year. O f the race winners, Sete Gibernau was good enough, but not for every race . As feared , he lacked strength in depth. but he's very close indeed - in a toug h season. Alex Barros has bee n a serial disappointment. He may be good business for Repsol in Brazil, but as the number-one recipient of the best that Honda can offer, he has smashed more fairings than lap records (by a very big margin) and hasn't come up with the results. Well, the engineers can improve the product, but they can't re -engineer the riders. What they can do is make a clearer focus - and t hat 's what they will do next year. The 2005 factory bikes w ill be the real deal, promised HRC, not merely one or two development steps ahead of the satellite bikes. And it was also clear that it means to put the best available riders on them, regardless of sponsor preferences. Don't be surprised ifTamada finds himself drafted in to take the place of Barros next year. And maybe don't be surprised also if HRC is prepared to do it with - or without - Rep sol sponsorshi p. eN "Well, the engineers can improve the product , but t hey can't re -engineer the riders." Th irteen dyno rooms, for instance - half of them curtained off from our view. An RC21 IV engine being revved on the dyno , including horsepower read-outs - carefully held back from full revs and full power. And another V-five being assembled, in the most stripped-down state I'd eve r seen one. More interesting still was the conversation with the e ngineers. It always is. These are the guys who deve loped not only the much-derided but ultimately highly instructive oval-piston NRSOO of the 1980s, and a se ries of three- and four-cylinder 500cc two-strokes that came to define the class, but they also developled the masterpiece of MotoG P: the very clever, beautifully balanced , ever-improving and almost unbeatable RC21 1Y. Actua lly, it's not almost unbeatable. It is unbeatable. O r was, in the hands of Valentino Rossi. Th e engineers spoke long and e nthusiastically abou t their machine . T his year's is not only more powerful than last year 's - w ith a more highly developed chassis and suspension , and evercleverer electronics - it is also easier to ride, thanks to an elegant throttle linkage that offers fiy-by-wire advantages while retaining direct mechanical con trol, for rider feel. (A differentia l in the throttle linkage does the job.) The ot he r quest ions didn't elicit such enth usiastic re sponse s - those co ncerning the loss of Rossi, the rider who com plet ed the perfect package. He'd gone , and they were left to "feel glad to take on t he challenge ." What else? If there was an unde rlying uneasiness, maybe it was becaus e the challenge was not only for the title, but also to their underly ing beliefs. To their creed. come, and they go . Only engineering is eternal. Rossi's success this year (though he hasn't won it quite yet) doesn 't make this untrue. But it skews the balance. HRC's engineers could hardly have done more to win the title this year, but it doesn't seem to have been enough . There can be no question: This year 's V-five Honda is bike en ough to win. O nly Rossi has beaten the Hondas with any Max Biaggi was good enough, but ditto only on his good days. In fact, the most impressive of all the Honda race winners so far is Makoto Tamada, fearless and flying out of left field. All are satellite -team riders, because Honda was saddled w ith a sponsor's choice for its official factory team . Nicky Hayden was there already and worth giving another go after a strong first year. He hasn't quite stepped up to the plate so far, AN)) THEN NEXT WEEK We'RE GDNNA NAVE ANOTHEI\ HOME A1)VAtlTAGE~ ... www.cydenews.com CYCLE NEWS • OCTO BER 6,2004 111