The Repsol Honda MotoGP team has been testing a brand new carbon fibre swingarm for their 2018 Honda RC213V.
Their entire 2018 package plus new swingarm seems to be working for both Marquez and Pedrosa.
Pedrosa set the fastest ever motorcycle lap around Buriram International Circuit on the final day of the Thai pre-season testing.
Sharp eyes in the MotoGP garage have spotted something quite different on the Honda RC213V used by the Repsol Honda boys during the three-day testing in Thailand. It seemed that the factory Honda squad are experimenting with a full carbon fibre swingarm at the Buriram International Circuit and even during the Sepang winter test here in Malaysia a few weeks back.
Based on the final results of the three-day testing in both Malaysia and Thailand, we reckoned that both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa are very happy with their overall 2018 package which includes the revolutionary swingarm. Marquez broke the 1 minute 30 seconds barrier on Day 2 whilst Pedrosa was a fraction faster on the final day.
Whilst the use of carbon fibre as a major part of the chassis is nothing new, its history in making them work to their advantage was far from successful. Ducati found it the hard way back in 2009 when they used a full carbon frame and their riders (Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner) complaint about it not being flexible enough to ride.
Looks like Honda has found a solution to the problem and with Dani Pedrosa running almost a second quicker when using the carbon fibre swingarm, there’s no doubt that Repsol Honda will be a force to be reckoned with in the 2018 season. More updates will come once the MotoGP circus heads to Qatar for their final pre-season test on 1 March 2018.
Image source: MotoGP
