Honda has transferred its technical director Ken Kawauchi to its take a look at crew in MotoGP, Motorsport.com can reveal.
Kawauchi joined the Japanese marque’s racing division at first of the 2023 season from Suzuki, which had pulled the plug on its MotoGP undertaking a couple of months earlier.
Regardless of the excessive expectations given the success of Suzuki, which received the riders’ world championship title in 2020 with Joan Mir, the Japanese technician has not managed to alter the course of Honda’s troubled MotoGP effort or shut the hole to pacesetter Ducati.
Over the past yr and a half, Kawauchi has acted as a hyperlink between Honda’s two workshops, the manufacturing facility squad and the satellite tv for pc LCR crew managed by Lucio Checchinello.
However Kawauchi has switched to working inside the take a look at crew, with the change already efficient from the previous few grands prix. The previous Suzuki man’s presence contained in the storage of Joan Mir and Luca Marini has probably meant that nobody observed his change of function.
Nevertheless, Honda confirmed the transfer to Motorsport.com on Thursday, forward of its house race at Motegi.
“Ken Kawauchi is now centered on working with the HRC take a look at crew in a technical function the place he brings the expertise and data gained from his time in racing,” it mentioned.
“Because the take a look at crew grows in significance, and is about to increase to 3 riders by 2025, it’s essential to have somebody skilled in all elements of improvement.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Group
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
The technical director emptiness left by Kawauchi on the race squad has been crammed by Mikihiko Kawase, who has been promoted internally from Honda’s racing division HRC, which he joined in 2012.
Honda continues to be in the midst of a significant inner reshuffle. A yr in the past at Motegi, Shinichi Kokubu, who till then had been basic technical director (a stage above the Kawauchi function), left the MotoGP undertaking and was changed by Shin Sato.
Months later it was the flip of basic supervisor Tetsuhiro Kuwata to go away his put up, which is now held by Taichi Honda.
All these modifications are understood to be aimed toward enhancing the efficiency of the RC213V, for which the most effective outcome this season was a ninth place for Johann Zarco (LCR) final Sunday in Indonesia.
