[kropotkin thinks...] - Ken Kawauchi Interview: HRC's Technical Manager On Bringing H

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Ken Kawauchi Interview: HRC's Technical Manager On Bringing Honda Back To Being Competitive

At the beginning of 2023, former Suzuki technical manager Ken Kawauchi moved to Honda. This news surprised many people around the world, because it is very unusual for Japanese company workers who are in a responsible position to move to their competitors.

In 2023, Honda went through the toughest season in their MotoGP history. The result of that painful year was that they qualified for concessions as a manufacturer for the forthcoming 2024 season, so they joined the shakedown test before the official three-day test at the Sepang International Circuit. After this shakedown test, we spoke with Ken-san for a one-on-one interview to ask about Honda's struggle in the previous year and their expectations for 2024.

Q: How would you describe your first season in HRC?

KK: Although I moved from one Japanese company to another Japanese one, everything was different, including colleagues, the way of working, the working environment and scale, everything. While I had to learn a lot of things, we could not achieve good results, so honestly speaking, it was a very tough season for me.

Q: From your point of view as a technical manager who is in charge of managing the on-site technical things, what was the reason for this struggle?

KK: I think there was no simple answer for it. One of the reasons was, for sure, our bike was not as competitive as our rival manufacturers. Maybe we could have done things with a better approach. It was the combination of many things that caused those results.


Akira NishimuraFri, 16/02/2024 - 18:33

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