Dutch MotoGP pole man Marc Marquez has pinned Honda's upturn in speed at Assen this year on the bike's aerodyamic fairing and the greater front stability it has given.
Marquez stormed to his second pole of the season in a tight Assen qualifying on Saturday, edging Honda stablemate Cal Crutchlow by 0.041 seconds with a 1:32.791s to snatch to spot at the end of the session.
The Spaniard also topped both practice session on Saturday, and displayed strong race pace on Friday and in FP4 on all three rear tyre options.
Typically a circuit suited to Yamaha – who won at Assen last year with Valentino Rossi – Marquez feels Honda's lack of winglets in the past added to the bike's front stability woes, and says he can now rider “smoother”.
“In FP1 the bike was quite unstable, was shaking a lot,” he said.
“But, then, I start to feel better and better during the weekend. We have a good pace and this is the most important, but of course during the race will be different.
“But anyway, Yamaha is very strong here, Ducati is strong, but I think Yamaha is stronger. They are very fast here, but I think it's positive that we are there.
“One of the main reasons for me [why Honda is fast], in my opinion, is the front wings, because in previous years we arrive without that new aerodynamic item, and one of our problems in the front stability.
“So this gives to us the front stability in a better way, and I'm able to ride smoother.”
All three rear tyre compounds are set to be viable options for Sunday's 26-lap race, though Marquez feels this is complicating things less this weekend as the tyres are “from the same family”, unlike at some events this year.
“Here they [Michelin] bring a normal tyre allocation – I mean they bring from the same family: soft, medium, hard,” he explained.
“And for everybody it's easier to find the tyres. In Mugello from the beginning you already see was the medium, but then the harder was softer than the medium, from another family, it was strange.
“So when you have this it's difficult to understand, but the best way and where we never complain is when they bring the soft, medium and hard tyres from the same family.
“It's easier because each manufacturer can use what they want.”
