Honda still struggling after late start with new MotoGP electronics

Honda's late start with MotoGP's new-for-2016 control electronics means it is still playing catch-up and suffering from stability as well as acceleration difficulties, Marc Marquez believes.

The Japanese manufacturer has suffered the most with the shift away from factory-developed ECUs, even though Marquez sits second in the championship after six races, just 10 points behind Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

Marquez has won two races and finished each grand prix on the podium, other than at Le Mans where he crashed, but factory team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Honda's satellite riders have not been able to drag the bike to results as much as the two-time world champion.

"Maybe the smartest one is Ducati, they worked a really long time with these electronics," Marquez said of the Magneti Marelli system.

"With Honda, we started to use these electronics in Valencia [2015 post-season testing].

"As soon as we started, we saw many problems, we saw that it was difficult to manage and we are working together, but Honda can be very close.

"We have the power, but last year we were able to control the power with the electronics, with our electronics, and the bike was much more stable.

"The slide was nicer but with these electronics it looks like we can not manage this problem.

"We need to fix the problem, but the power is there. We can not use it for some reason."

While Mugello had fewer exits from low-speed corners than the preceding round at Le Mans, masking Honda's acceleration deficiencies to a point, Marquez said he was also struggling with stability on the RC213V.

"The most stable bike, even with the torque, is Ducati, it looks very stable, then Yamaha," he added.

"And Suzuki is more unstable but they can keep pushing.

"We are not able, still, to adjust this to this kind of problem but we are working hard and every time we are closer and closer.

"When you change all of these things, it's difficult to find the good level because compared to the third race we improved a lot, but the other manufacturers also improved.

"We are on delay but I hope that soon but sooner or later we will arrive."