PI hid Honda problems

Marco Melandri reckons the fast and flowing nature of the Phillip Island circuit masked some of the horsepower problems on Honda’s new RC212V 800 machine.

Melandri was only 10th quickest overall at the recent three-day test session in Australia while Dani Pedrosa gave Honda a lift by clocking the fastest time on race tyres in Phillip Island.

With only one straight, Melandri said Honda’s much-publicised top speed and acceleration problems were not as exaggerated as the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.

The former world 250 champion said: “Phillip Island was not so bad because there is only one straight and all the other parts of the track you have to play with the throttle.

“You don’t need to use full throttle so much. So if we miss power we are only losing a little bit on the front straight. But in Malaysia there were too many places where you need power and that was costing us more time.”