The RC213V Honda first debuted in 2012 was gradually overhauled according to the requirements of Marquez, who made a starring debut with the Japanese manufacturer almost 11 years ago.
While the decision to base its bike almost entirely around Marquez initially proved hugely successful as the Spaniard romped to six titles in a span of seven years, his injury at the start of the 2020 season and subsequent layoff periods highlighted major flaws with Honda’s MotoGP strategy.
Marquez was also able to work his way around some of the fundamental issues with the RC213V, which meant that Honda didn’t have a full understanding of its weaknesses until the bike dropped significantly behind the competition in the past two years.
With the 31-year-old now having broken his contract to carve out the next chapter of his career with Gresini Ducati, Honda is taking a new approach to its MotoGP programme that brings it more in line with the European marques.
A key person in Honda’s bid to return to the front is MotoGP veteran Zarco, who has joined the LCR satellite team this year in place of Alex Rins.
But, although Zarco has been able to outperform factory Honda riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini on a regular basis, the Frenchman thinks the entire quartet must play a role in improving the RC213V.
Asked if Honda should be putting an increased focus on him as it adds more parts to its V4-powered bike, the one-time MotoGP race winner said the Japanese marque is better off not repeating the mistakes of yesteryear.
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Not too much on me,” he said. “Even if I can be faster sometimes, what we share [with each other] if we [help] raise the level of the Honda, it will be a benefit for everyone.
“At the moment with Honda, the big change compared to the year before is that a huge leader is not in the factory team.
“I don’t mean I’m the leader but we are very similar and that is useful for both teams to get full development from Honda, and Honda now is doing it this way.
“We can understand that in the past having Marc could save every problem and then maybe they focused too much on them.”
Zarco propelled his LCR-run Honda to 12th in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix last weekend, finishing just behind the top Yamaha of 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.
During the early stages of the shortened 21-lap contest, Zarco got a good chance to compare the Honda with that of Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia, which was seen by many as the second-fastest bike going into the new season.
Zarco feels the data collected from the Losail International Circuit will allow Honda to cure the weaknesses of its bike, as it works out how to take advantage of the new concessions system for 2024.
“We need to use these races as a development because we know at the moment the bike is not ready for a podium, but clearly [it is] much better than the project of the last two years,” he said.
“The best reference in [Qatar] was Vinales for us. Because Aprilia is one of the best bikes in Qatar.
“He was not so confident, so he missed a little bit at the beginning of both races, so at least I could follow him.
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“And also I could see that I could not follow him [later] during the race. So it was the perfect example to understand where I am as a rider and then also give the information [about] how the bike is.
“We have some concessions, so more tests and more parts to bring to tests and this will be useful.
“There is a balance on the bike, there is no big secret. But everyone has to find this balance and Honda is on the way.”
Zarco’s team-mate and long-time Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami has witnessed a major difference in the Japanese manufacturer’s response time in the past few months, a direct result of the revamp it has undertaken to arrest its decline in MotoGP.
Nakagami says not only is he having more conversations with engineers than ever before, there is also a deeper collaboration between the satellite team and the factory squad, with Zarco and Nakagami now getting new parts at the same time as Mir and Marini.
“Definitely, I was impressed how they changed the systems, the approach and the concept,” he said.
“The people around the inside are changing a lot. Still I don’t know many faces around there.
“The factory team and satellite team look more like a unit, so the feeling is good.
“Then [I’m having] more conversations with the Japanese and I can explain to them. This is nice. I felt like it’s more family, Honda family.
“Hopefully we will keep going like this and improve because the rider wants to get a competitive bike. And we just want to gather more information for engineers, so let’s keep working like this.”
