Honda has transferred its technical director Ken Kawauchi to its take a look at group in MotoGP, Autosport can reveal.
Kawauchi joined the Japanese marque’s racing division at the start of the 2023 season from Suzuki, after its MotoGP challenge ceased a number of months earlier.
Regardless of the excessive expectations that adopted Suzuki’s success in profitable the riders’ world championship title in 2020 with Joan Mir, the Japanese technician has not managed to vary the course of Honda’s troubled MotoGP effort or shut the hole to pacesetter Ducati.
Over the past 12 months and a half, Kawauchi has acted as a hyperlink between Honda’s two workshops, the manufacturing unit squad and the satellite tv for pc LCR group managed by Lucio Checchinello.
However Kawauchi has switched to working throughout the take a look at group, with the change already efficient from the previous couple of grands prix. The previous Suzuki man’s presence contained in the storage of Joan Mir and Luca Marini has almost definitely meant that nobody observed his change of position.
Nevertheless, Honda confirmed the transfer to Autosport on Thursday, forward of its house race at Motegi.
“Ken Kawauchi is now centered on working with the HRC take a look at group in a technical position the place he brings the expertise and knowledge gained from his time in racing,” it mentioned.
“Because the take a look at group grows in significance, and is about to increase to a few riders by 2025, it’s essential to have somebody skilled in all facets of improvement.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Workforce
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photos
The technical director emptiness left by Kawauchi on the race squad has been crammed by Mikihiko Kawase.
He has been promoted internally from Honda’s racing division HRC, which Kawase joined in 2012.
Honda continues to be in the midst of a significant inner reshuffle. A 12 months in the past at Motegi, Shinichi Kokubu, who till then had been common technical director (a stage above the Kawauchi position), left the MotoGP challenge and was replaced by Shin Sato.
Months later it was the flip of general manager Tetsuhiro Kuwata to leave his post, which is now held by Taichi Honda.
All these adjustments are understood to be geared toward bettering the efficiency of the RC213V, for which the very best outcome this season was a ninth place for Johann Zarco (LCR) final Sunday in Indonesia.