Colom: "We need to improve a lot and develop the bike!"
Team HRC Team Manager Jaume Colom discusses how Honda can continue to improve throughout the 2020 season
As MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action resumed with back-to-back Rounds at Jerez and Portimao, Team HRC continued to collect data to improve their CBR1000RR-R machine; with a fifth place in Race 2 at the Motul Portuguese Round suggesting Honda are moving in the right direction.
In the nine races that have made up the 2020 season so far, across three Rounds, Team HRC riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam have collected 55 and 36 points respectively as they lie in seventh and 11th in the Championship. Bautista has scored points in all races bar the three Tissot Superpole Races while Haslam has scored points in every race; both riders picking up a top five finish so far in 2020 but they still wait for a podium.
Discussing how Team HRC can continue to improve the bike throughout its duration, Colom said: “Work and work. We need to work everyday and everyday we have more information from the data.” The data from the three Rounds as well as the test days completed by the team will be hugely valuable as Honda pushes to claim a podium during the 2020 season.
Some bikes are seen to have an advantage at certain tracks, but Colom is currently not sure whether this is the case for the CBR1000RR-R. He said: “The bike is new and we don’t know exactly what circuits are better for us. We need to improve a lot and develop the bike.”
Honda have certainly shown potential since returning to WorldSBK as a fully-fledged factory effort, with race winners Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam a sign of intent from the Japanese marque. With more data collected from more races and tests, Team HRC will be hoping they can start picking up podiums and wins sooner rather than later.
You can watch the full interview with Colom at the top of this article.
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