Honda
Hopes were high for HRC after
test rider Aleix Espargaro topped
the timesheets at the Shake-
down test the previous week.
"This is the best bike I've ever
ridden," he later declared.
The following three days didn't
disappoint. Granted, Honda
has spun hundreds of laps here
since last fall and was extremely
competitive in last year's Malay-
sian GP. But its new engine was
an upgrade, and the RC213V
has shed some weight. And the
aerodynamics, introduced at
the Valencia test and based on
Ducati's winglets, are another
step forward.
Those steps saw Mir top the
times on Wednesday—a first by
a Honda rider at an official test
since February 2022—even if rain
brought an early end to the day.
"We're very pleased," said
team manager Alberto Puig.
"We made big progress with the
machine. It's not been a revolu-
tion. But small points in areas
we knew we needed to improve—
small things that make the final
result quite big." The Spaniard
ended on a bullish note. "The tar-
get is to win as soon as possible,
clearly."
But Majorcan Mir was a little
downbeat on the final day.
"It's slightly better in every
area," he said. "If there was a
race tomorrow, I'd be in the fight
for the top four—but nothing
more." His drop in mood perhaps
stemmed from Alex Marquez's
The man with
the busiest off-
season of them
all, Maverick
Vinales, was a
consistent top
10 performer
on the Tech3
KTM.
(Left) Pedro
Acosta professed
himself happy
with KTM's
off-season
development
work, but his
Sprint pace was
nearly a second
off what Alex
Marquez could
manage. (Right)
Joan Mir and the
heavily revised
Honda were at
the pointy end
for all of the test
days, eventually
finishing fifth on
the combined
times.
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P99
