Tech special

We go under the skin of Honda, BMW, Kawasaki and Norton’s racers

Honda Racing are hoping to bounce back from a tough 2017 campaign at they look to finally make an big impression with the Fireblade CBR1000RR SP2. Things got off to a nightmare start for the Louth-based squad as last year’s road racing season got underway with John McGuinness breaking his leg in a crash caused by an electronics issue with his Blade during practice or the North West 200.

That meant the factory effort were left with just Guy Martin competing at the TT and, with the racer-turned-TV-star struggling for pace preseason, things didn’t get better when the racing started. Guy crashed out of the Superbike race on the opening lap at Mona’s Isle and subsequently withdrew from the Senior.

Having signed Ian Hutchinson (see p6) and Lee Johnston for 2018, Honda will be hoping to banish the bad memories and re-establish themselves as consistent TT front runners. With the glitch that caused McGuinness’ North West crash ironed out, Honda have effectively started again with the SP2 this year after not being able to give the machine a real run out at either the North West or TT 12 months ago. So how are they feeling and what’s the plan? “The bike hasn’t changed massively since last year,” explains the technical brains behind Honda’s roads project Julian Boland. “We didn’t really get very far with last year’s bike. There was no fundamental problem with it, so we are starting again with the new bike where we finished last year. The issue at the North West was one small glitch that had some big consequences, but we have taken that out now.

“That being said, we won’t just race last year’s bike, we have quite a few options but testing has been limited because of weather and, to be honest, the best place to try them is in TT practice. There are lots of little things in place for us to try chassis, fairing and engine wise. It’s all there ready, we’re just going to start where we ended last year and build from there with the aim of developing a good TT-spec bike, rather than turning up with a WSB or BSB bike.”

‘WE ARE WORKING WITH THREE ENGINES TO FIND THE BEST POWER DELIVERY FOR THE TT COURSE’

Honda are putting last year’s troubles behind them

Lee Johnston (right) with crew chief Roger Smith

The team are still deciding between the Honda Kit ECU and the MoTeC system

Top-spec Öhlins suspension controls both ends

Honda say they have ironed out ride-by-wire issues

Johnston likes to use a thumb-operated rear brake

Three different engine specs are being evaluated