Evolution not revolution
While the new Fireblade may well be a revolutionary model for the road with all its electronic rider aids, these are all stripped off for BSB. With the chassis relatively unchanged, the SP2’s race-tuning friendly engine should help Honda get more out of the motor but they weren’t short of power last year. As Beltran says, the biggest change is the move from conventional, cable controlled throttle to fly-by-wire which in theory could transform how the bike puts its power down. This could be vital in preventing the bike moving around, something both riders complained about a lot in 2016. Fortunately for the BSB team, friends in Honda Japan provided them with a race-spec fly-by-wire system to test on their old bike last year, so they’ve already made good progress.