Honda asks Kalex to build MotoGP chassis for Marquez?
Dominant in the Moto2 class, Kalex’s swingarm expertise was called upon to try and rejuvenate Honda’s results from Misano onwards.
Upon returning from surgery, star rider Marc Marquez soon favoured the Kalex swingarm, using it to claim his only podium of the season at Phillip Island.
The aluminium swingarm has continued to be part of the Honda package during 2023 pre-season testing.
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But, according to Speedweek.com, the German company will soon deliver an entire frame, perhaps in time for the first official in-season MotoGP test of the year, at Jerez in early May.
With Marquez in his best physical shape since 2020, the spotlight is now firmly on the performance of the flagging RC213V, the only MotoGP bike without a win last season.
Four different machines were offered to Marquez during the opening pre-season test at Sepang in February, but he felt no significant step over the previous prototype from Valencia in November.
The lack of clear forward momentum continued in the final pre-season test at Portimao, where Marquez found no advantage from a new frame and finished the test, in 14th, with the bike package he had preferred at Sepang.
Ex-Suzuki technical manager Ken Kawauchi has been hired to take over the RC213V MotoGP project this season but the Kalex chassis plans may have already been in the pipeline.
