Honda were the only manufacturer to bring a 2018 protoype to testing in Valencia at the end of 2017, and the Japanese marque seem to have hit the ground running at Sepang – with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) positive after the first day on track at Sepang International Circuit.
The day began wet, but then the track dried and the real work began.
“Today after the rain it was a busy day,” says the now six-time World Champion. “I’m quite happy, I was working on three different bikes and three different engines - I mean last year’s bike and two different engines - and of course it was quite difficult because when the engine is new you must adjust many, many things. I wasn’t able to work on the setup, but we still have two more days.”
Adding a little more specificity to their modus operandi, the rider from Cervera says it’s a question of torque, power and electronics – but that there’s a plan for each day of the test, and more to come.
“We’re trying to improve the torque, the power,” explains Marquez. “It looks like it’s there but we still need to adjust the electronics to find the best way, and find something on the bottom because last year we were on the limit. It’s step by step. Today was more concentrating on engines, tomorrow I’ll concentrate more on setup because today I wasn’t 100% comfortable on the bike. And then we’ll work more on aerodynamics and some other things.”
Action recommences on Monday at 10:00 local time (GMT +8).