It’s about commitment
Honda have decided their new Blade is all about winning races, and how that translates to road riders is by-the-by. Good job they’ve got off to a decent start…
Heads were scratched in Jerez at the World Superbike test last month when Leon Haslam’s new HRC Honda Fireblade topped the speed trap times. Paddock experts couldn’t remember the last time that happened – ‘possibly with Fred Merkel in 1988,’ mused one wag.
Haslam even went to the top of the time sheets on his first lap out at a very wet Jerez, and though he ended the day sixth, it looks positive for the Blade. In standard road trim it makes a claimed 215bhp at the crank and Honda have made few compromises for road riders (see test, p68). It might be a knee-aching hell for normal humans, but that’s what the tiddly racers want. Plus there is plenty of speed yet to come from the bike, as it’s so early in its development.
‘We’ve made some good steps today,’ said Haslam after the final Jerez test day. ‘The lap times aren’t too bad [he was 0.8sec off the leader] and I was pretty happy with the race tyres. We’re not yet at the stage where we’re fine-tuning the bike, as we’re still testing fundamental components. I can’t wait to get to Phillip Island.’
The first round in Australia is on March, and the result looks wide open. Jonathan Rea is one of the few riders on the same bike in the same team as last year, so will be an early favourite, but as the other teams and riders settle in, it could turn into a more watchable scrap than recent years. For once there are no major rule changes, which always helps.
Riders to look out for are Scott Redding on the Ducati V4, Alex Lowes as team-mate to Jonathan Rea on a Kawasaki, Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Ducati’s Chaz Davies.