Xavi Vierge (Honda): “The gap grew” / Superbike World Championship

Honda Racing has been using the Triple-R in the World Superbike Championship since 2020, but has managed five third-place finishes since then. No other manufacturer has been as successful as Japan’s largest factory and no other has shown so little progress.

Pilots like Xavi Vierge are suffering. The Spaniard was lured by Honda from Moto2 into the top division of the series-based world championship. 2024 is his third Superbike season, and it threatens to be even worse for him: after two meetings, the 26-year-old is in 15th place in the overall standings with 13 points and is still Honda’s best rider. Iker Lecuona, who had to miss Phillip Island, has only three points. Petronas drivers Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin have yet to make it into the points.

“It’s a difficult start to the year, as it was at the end of 2023,” Vierge said in TodoCircuito. “We knew it would be very difficult if we didn’t make a big step from our current level. But it is what it is: the new motorcycle is here, but it has the same character as the previous one. Everyone is improving year after year, but we seem to be going further and more. The team knows this and we are working non-stop to change the situation.”

Honda has changed many things in motorcycles. The chassis was modified to specifications from the racing team and the new engine has plenty of power.

“The engine is the same as last year. When I tested it I felt it has a lot of power at high revs; “It’s a very fast bike,” said the Spaniard. “But we can’t convert that into acceleration from the corner and we wear out the tires. We can only use the power on the streaks once we have left the curve behind us. We have to find a way to make the engine work at lower speeds.”