The RC213V Honda first debuted in 2012 was gradually overhauled according to the requirements of Marquez, who made a starring debut with the Japanese manufacturer almost 11 years ago.
While the decision to base its bike almost entirely around Marquez initially proved hugely successful as the Spaniard romped to six titles in a span of seven years, his injury at the start of the 2020 season and subsequent layoff periods highlighted major flaws with Honda’s MotoGP strategy.
Marquez was also able to work his way around some of the fundamental issues with the RC213V, which meant that Honda didn’t have a full understanding of its weaknesses until the bike dropped significantly behind the competition in the past two years.
With the 31-year-old now having broken his contract to carve out the next chapter of his career with Gresini Ducati, Honda is taking a new approach to its MotoGP programme that brings it more in line with the European marques.
A key person in Honda’s bid to return to the front is MotoGP veteran Zarco, who has joined the LCR satellite team this year in place of Alex Rins.
But, although Zarco has been able to outperform factory Honda riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini on a regular basis, the Frenchman thinks the entire quartet must play a role in improving the RC213V.
Asked if Honda should be putting an increased focus on him as it adds more parts to its V4-powered bike, the one-time MotoGP race winner said the Japanese marque is better off not repeating the mistakes of yesteryear.
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Not too much on me,” he said. “Even if I can be faster sometimes, what we share [with each other] if we [help] raise the level of the Honda, it will be a benefit for everyone.
“At the moment with Honda, the big change compared to the year before is that a huge leader is not in the factory team.
“I don’t mean I’m the leader but we are very similar and that is useful for both teams to get full development from Honda, and Honda now is doing it this way.
“We can understand that in the past having Marc could save every problem and then maybe they focused too much on them.”
Zarco propelled his LCR-run Honda to 12th in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix last weekend, finishing just behind the top Yamaha of 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.
During the early stages of the shortened 21-lap contest, Zarco got a good chance to compare the Honda with…
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