Marc Marquez: Honda MotoGP bike acceleration still inconsistent

The Japanese manufacturer has dropped its screamer-profile engine for 2017 and followed the lead of rivals in using the big-bang firing order in a bid to smooth its power delivery.

That has helped improve Honda's fortunes to a point, even though it has generally trailed Yamaha on outright pace in the first five races.

Marquez says the overhaul, and ongoing work to tune its electronics to suit, is helping in some situations more than others.

"We are improving on that area and I think now the lack of acceleration is less and less," he said.

"But still we need to understand where because in some exits it's not so bad, but in other corners, depending on the gear, we are losing a lot still.

"I think we are still losing but not much like in the beginning."

The Spaniard tried a new exhaust during the post-Spanish Grand Prix test at Jerez, and evaluated that again during the Le Mans weekend, which ultimately finished with a crash in the race.

"I like always to have the torque of the bike on my hand and with this exhaust I'm able to do it, I'm able to ride more like I want," he said.

"Still have some areas that I don't feel 100% but I need to continue to use because we believe that has a good potential and we need to work because we need more kilometres to understand."

LCR satellite rider Cal Crutchlow said that it was tough for Honda riders to know where and by how much the bike's acceleration was improving.

"The problem is, we don't know if we are or aren't losing until you follow someone," he said.

"Honda is doing a good job. Step-by-step, I think they are coming along stronger than they were.

"But the funny thing is, it's not as if it's something brand new on the bike.

"I think it's little things, we're understanding more how to ride again the bike. But, yeah, I've been impressed in the last races."