MotoGP, Puig: "Honda is looking for a solution, but we haven't found the direction yet"

"Honda is not sleeping," Alberto Puig had declared after the Austin flop, and the HRC Team Manager once again reiterated this after the weekend in Jerez, the fifth MotoGP round of the year. It was another not very positive weekend for the Honda squadron, which is propping up the Constructors' standings with 13 points and still far from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, despite their continued efforts.

The Tokyo-based manufacturer really has to be given credit for not standing by idly, as demonstrated by the new package entrusted to test rider Stefan Bradl in the Andalusian round and then tested by the regular riders in the post-GP test on Monday. A revolution of the entire fairing of the RC213V, starting with a clear Ducati-style fairing and arriving at a tail with unusual shapes, made by the Japanese manufacturer in just two months. Twisting the shapes of the bike, however, was not enough to get the same feedback from a chronometric point of view or in the opinions of the HRC and LCR riders, who promptly rejected the prototype after the first contact.

It continues to never rain but it pours at Honda, so much so that there are those who are advising the Japanese giant to shelve the current project in order to concentrate its efforts on designing the bike with which to face the 2027 regulation changes (HERE all the news released by the FIM). But the Golden Wing manufacturer still seems to be disinclined to throw in the towel just yet.

"Bradl tested the bike and we collected a lot of data. The sensations were good, not negative, but clearly we are still not where we want to be, " were Puig's words, as reported by our colleagues in the Spanish publication As. "We have not yet found the direction we expect and want," continued the team manager, who is convinced that by continuing to try new ways Honda will be able to get on the right path out of the crisis: "If we can understand the direction we need to take, we can try to make progress. We have to keep doing what we are doing: we are trying many things and trying to find a solution."