This past July at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca., Cycle World Technical Editor Kevin Cameron and I were granted unprecedented access to Honda’s MotoGP effort, the factory Repsol squad in particular. Some of the interviews were just a few minutes in length; others stretched to nearly half an hour. All provided great insights into Honda’s renewed focus and strength in Grand Prix racing. Here are some of the excerpted highlights:
Shuhei Nakamoto, VP Honda Racing Corporation: “Last season, we changed engine-control system—completely different. That system is made by Honda Formula One engineers and is growing every day because [our] engineers are growing.
“For 2011, we have four factory machines and two satellite machines. Only difference is the transmission. The satellite bike for Round 1 was a 2010 chassis with a 2011 engine. Once we decided on the chassis specification, we gave [the other riders] the 2011 prototype; Toni Elias is using a 2011 chassis.
“For 2011, we have a contract with two riders: Dani and Casey. For these two riders, we are decided. Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli are showing very good performance, but we are still talking.”
Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda rider: “It’s more or less the same, motorbike-to-motorbike. [The Honda] still has two wheels and handlebars and all the rest. There are just different feelings. You overcome that and start riding a little bit more with your head rather than your heart; you ride with your heart and your feeling after you get used to a motorbike.
“When it feels right for me, it’s all about a vibration. If you’ve got no feeling in the bike, it just feels greasy, like there’s nothing under you. When it feels right, it’s possible to feel every bit of tarmac—you can feel the tire ‘walking’ between all the bits of stone.
“Even five or six years ago, tires were completely different than they are now. When they go now, they don’t give you quite as much warning. The bike may have a great feeling in the front, but there’s still that point where if you push too hard, it’s still going to go. Sometimes, when you push more and more, the bike actually works better.
“I think I know what Ducati is capable of, but they need more resources. This was our biggest problem when I was there. They’ve put the resources in this year, and they’re still not getting the results. It’s very surprising to me. I know Valentino is a lot better rider than that. On that bike, he’s struggling a lot more than I expected.
“The [Ducati] was not developed around me. I don’t believe any bike should be developed around one rider. Every rider has weaknesses, and if you build a bike around one rider, you’re going to build those weaknesses into that bike.
“I run two to three times less traction control than everyone else. It was the same at Ducati. I don’t like the feeling of it. I don’t like all those engine cuts and the rest of it.
“We don’t know the [radiation] situation [in Japan]. There are things coming out every day that are proving all of their theories wrong. This career isn’t going to be the rest of my life. There’s no point for us to take a risk, and that’s why I’ve taken a stand. I’ve got my wife, and I want to have a family in the future.”
Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda rider: “There aren’t very many riders who understand how to ride this bike. You need experience. If you ride 125 and 250, and you get really good results, you can be fast in MotoGP. Different power, different weight, but it is the same way.
“If you are world champion in Superbike, it doesn’t mean that if you arrive in MotoGP, you have the mentality and talent enough to ride for the championship. This bike is much stiffer, and the limit is more farther than on a Superbike. People who arrive from Moto2 and Superbike, their style is too ‘dirty’—they brake too hard, are not so precise and are spinning too much. That is not the way to ride a stiff bike.
“When I arrive in Repsol Honda, the situation for me was really bad—really, really bad. It was very difficult. Nakamoto-san arrived and made a big difference. He understood we had to do a big change, including some other people. We work hard and are really competitive now.”
Livio Suppo, Repsol Honda Team Manager: “Strong riders can be with us or against us. It doesn’t matter if they have the same color of machines, they are competitors. At the end of the day, it is better to have more good riders on Hondas because, from a Honda point of view, the more we win, the more we are happy. The rider’s championship is the more famous championship. The more strong riders you have, the more possibility you have to win it.
“I saw the vision of Nakamoto-san to bring HRC back where it used to be. I started working [in MotoGP] when I was at Benetton; we were supplying clothing to the HRC team. So, for me, it was kind of a come back home. The 11 years that I spent with Ducati were wonderful, but HRC is HRC. For people with passion for motorcycles, it is something iconic.
“After one and a half years, I see there is a big difference between selling Ducati and selling a Japanese manufacturer. At the moment, I’m not involved in the organization [of the team]. My job is more about sponsorship and communication.
“[Dani Pedrosa] has unbelievable determination. His talent is huge. It’s just a pity that, for one reason or the other, there is not one season in which he can’t finish without injury. This is really a big pity for him.”
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda rider: “Every week, I feel a little bit better. I’ve been lucky that the last two races have been more turning to the left, so I rested the right arm.
“I’m getting improvement, step-by-step. The muscles are getting really tight and stiff—the lower back, especially—after riding, but I try to rest and get the muscles soft.
“Sometimes, when you are weaker in one point, the body tries to compensate. Perhaps, that is what’s happening. When I’m riding, though, I try to concentrate on the riding.”
Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini rider: “Sure, it has been not easy this year. But I keep going, and I try to do my best.
“Yeah, sure, MotoGP bike is not easy to ride. To bring to the limit is a hard thing. For me, the 125 and 250 two-strokes were a better school for this bike because our bike is more difficult to ride with a more aggressive engine. So, they were a better school than Moto2.
“Moto2 is a less-extreme bike compared to 250s. More like a streetbike. I think it is more easy to ride.
“When you feel exactly what is happening on the front wheel, you understand how you can push and where is the limit. But if you don’t feel, you don’t know. You have no confidence. If you lose the rear, you can manage; you can save it from the crash. On the front, if you don’t feel and try to push, the first warning is easy to go on the ground. In the middle of the corner, when you leave the brake, sometimes, the losing of grip is very slow. You can feel it.
“At the beginning of the year, I was using more [traction control.] But now, race-by-race, we always start to reduce this to improve the consumption and have a more direct feeling with the throttle.
“For an Italian rider, I think it is a great thing to ride a Ducati. But, at the moment, the technical situation is not so clear. Everybody knows when Stoner was at Ducati, it was not easy bike because only Stoner can bring this bike near to the limit and go fast to stay in the top. This year, Valentino has some problem, and this confirms that the Ducati is not a simple bike.
“If next year I haven’t a factory bike, I go away to some other factory or I go race Superbike.”
