ARAGON TEST: Camier confirms different chassis bracing and exhaust for Honda
With two days of Spanish sunshine over MotorLand Aragon, the opening day has given plenty for us to get our teeth into
MotorLand Aragon is hosting a two-day private test for some of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship riders and teams and once again, it’s set to be a busy couple of days for Honda. Team HRC team principal Leon Camier outlined the plan for Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona, which included testing a stiffer chassis bracing and exhaust.
Speaking in the morning before track action commenced, Camier explained the agenda for Team HRC: “We are comparing some old things that we’ve already had, just for rigidity. We have some different chassis bracing that we are testing, the first time we’re testing this one. We’re looking to increase stability and some other things such as more power and torque via the exhaust, which is slightly different.
“It’s not a big step but it’s in the right direction. There’re are a few other bits that we need to do some comparisons on in terms of turning. It’s nothing revolutionary but just some little bits to try and find some direction. In terms of stability, we’re trying to improve it on acceleration. Let’s see if this is the right direction or not and we’ll see.”
The test sees both Team HRC riders, along with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and his teammate Alex Lowes, on track with Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and WorldSSP duo Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) and rookie teammate Luke Power. After the opening hours of track action, Rea was fastest with a 1’50.242, ahead of Lecuona by two tenths and Vierge by three. Lowes followed and completed the WorldSBK running, with Brad Ray only doing an outlook before mechanical problems hit. In WorldSSP, Luke Power led Tom Booth-Amos by around one second.
Talking about grip and which levels suit each rider, Camier explain in detail: “Xavi likes it when the track offers good grip, whereas Iker seems to be able to manage around having low grip, it doesn’t really affect him. With our super concession bike this year, it changes a lot the balance of the bike and it’s something we need to confirm on normal circuits. It’s something we understood last year but now with this chassis, we need to get into the normal circuits.”
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