Along with their announcement that they wouldn’t re-enter MotoGP until 2015, Suzuki also gave onlookers a peak at their new machine earlier this week.
At the Catalunya test session, development rider Randy De Puniet managed to lap within 0.8 seconds of leader Jorge Lorenzo’s blistering pace.
Honda also unveiled their new MotoGP machine, the 2014 RC213V. It’s very similar to this year’s bike, but the engine, chassis and bodywork have all been revised. The fuel tank now only holds 20 litres, to comply with next year’s smaller fuel limit.
Last year, Honda introduced their 2013 MotoGP bike early, and made it available to Dani Pedrosa after he tested it and preferred it to the 2012 bike. He proceeded to rack up a lot of points on the machine, giving Jorge Lorenzo a run for the money.
Apparently, that experiment worked well enough that Honda has said they’ll make this bike available early as well, should Pedrosa or Marc Marquez wish to switch their ride.
“should Pedrosa or Marc Marquez wish to switch their ride. ”
Marquez has indicated that he currently prefers this year’s bike. There certainly seems to be plenty of performance there for him to use.