Honda feels less pressure after 2014 MotoGP bike test
Honda says the fact that its work riders saw no reason to hurry its 2014 bike into action means it is now under less pressure
Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez and LCR's Stefan Bradl tried the 2014 Honda RC213V at Aragon last week, but declined the team's offer to get it ready for an early debut.
HRC executive vice president Shuhei Nakamoto says the riders' decision proves the 2013 bike is strong enough and will allow the development programme to be measured.
"Dani, Marc and Stefan all gave us similar comments regarding the positive and negative aspects of the new bike and these will be very important in order to proceed with the development for next season," said Nakamoto.
"This test has also been very useful to work with the set-up of the current bike and help Dani and Marc find something they both like.
"The fact that they are happy with the 2013 version of the RC213V puts no pressure on us to race with the new prototype, so we will continue with its development as planned, and will be back in Europe for the test after Misano or for the one after Valencia."
A Honda statement also insisted that the 2014 bike test happened so early because of this year's MotoGP calendar, not because it felt under pressure from Yamaha in the MotoGP title battle. Pedrosa currently leads Jorge Lorenzo by seven points.
"The bike has been introduced earlier than normal due to the absence of the usual Brno post-race test after the summer break," said the statement.
"If the team had waited until the Misano test (16th September) it would be too late to make any big changes as a result of the feedback from factory riders Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez."
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