After testing after the MotoGP race in Valencia, Johann Zarco was capable of give a primary impression of the 2026 Honda RC213V.
Regardless of a dip in kind in mid-2025, Zarco completed final season as Honda’s solely MotoGP winner because of a wet French Grand Prix win at Le Mans.
The 2026 bike continues to be a piece in progress, as you’d count on at this level, but it surely’s a motorbike in a great spot.
“This bike appears to be working nicely,” Johann Zarco mentioned after testing in Valencia.
“There’s nothing actually dangerous about it, however there’s nothing tremendous good both.
“A variety of Honda’s DNA is mirrored in it, and I feel we’ll see an evolution in aerodynamics in Malaysia.
“However after we resume testing in Malaysia, the bikes we’ve got now shall be very comparable.”
The brand new bikes appear to supply some options to the important thing subject of grip.
“We at all times complain about grip, however there are some elements on this that really feel extra grippy,” mentioned the LCR Honda rider.
“[But]we did not really feel that this grip helped considerably enhance efficiency.
“However maybe now that we’ve got a motorbike that may produce this grip, we could must discover a totally different stability within the bike, and in our driving, to get essentially the most out of this evolution.”
Zarco added that will probably be necessary to resolve on a base bike early in 2026 with a purpose to work on the main points of the set-up.
“I am not anticipating something massive. I feel aerodynamics will make an enormous distinction after we get them,” he mentioned.
“However we really feel we’ve got good potential, but it surely’s troublesome to search out the correct stability.
“For those who hold the identical bike within the storage for lots of races, you’ll be able to play at that time and perceive the setup.”
