Marc Marquez left bemoaning Honda at Valencia MotoGP test: “We need more to fight for championship”
The Spaniard missed much of 2022 as he rehabilitated from a fourth major arm surgery yet was still Honda’s highest-placed rider in the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:MotoGP standings, finishing 13th, after a horr💞or year for the team.
Marquez 🍷tested Repsol Honda’s prototype bike for next season on Tuesday but was left frustrated with its lack of improvement, and insisted that unless major steps were taken he would not be able to challenge for a seventh MotoGP championship.
“We tried a protღo-bike with new aerodynamics and the same engine with a small mod♐ification, a different chassis. That’s it,” he explained.
“There is not a biꦿg difference. A bit. But we 🌞lose it in a different area, it’s a compromise.
“In the end, the performance was very similar.
“Of course I expected more but it isn’t there. The important thing is that Hon﷽da is working.
“I expect a big step in🎐 February at the next test.
“I expected more because always you want more and more. I cannot say that I’m disappointed because H✱onda are working, they are trying.
“But we need more if we want to fight for the championship. Or we will not fight 𓆏for the championship.
“We improve one area, we🅷 lose in another one. More or less the same problems.
"W𓆏e have to work this winter if we want to fight for the title. You don't have to take one step, you have to take two."
Marquez will be joined in the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:2023 MotoGP rider line-up by Joan Mir, who exits Suzuki, while 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alex Rins will join 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Takaaki Nakagami for the LCR Honda team.
Marquez said about his new teammates’ verdicts on the Honda spec🌃: “I saw their comments that they were surprised in the beginning! Step by step they are getting better. We know, with this bike, to get rac🍃e pace is difficult.
“They are part of Honda. It was💎 important for me to get their first impressions. When you ride a bike, you get used to the problem. If you are talented, you adapt to the problems and you are fast.”
A disappointed Marquez concluded: “I didn’t make many laps today, only for what I needed to try. That’s it. There was no sense to use the soft tyre or💜 make a time attack. I gave my comments. It is time for them to work in the winter-time.
“I am 🌄happy because there is a little bit more torque. But only a little. We need a big step if we want to be, not on the same level, but closer to other manufacturers.”
The next opportunity to test is in February at Sepang, part of the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:2023 MotoGP calendar.
James was a spoꦰrts journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
