Honda RC212V - 2010

2010

For 2010, the factory team riders are Pedrosa and Dovizioso, and the satellite team riders are Hiroshi Aoyama, de Puniet, Melandri and Marco Simoncelli. All riders are using Öhlins suspension components this year. The electronic systems were given an update, and the bike is shorter with a higher center of gravity. Also, Honda hired Andre Zugna and Cristian Battaglia, formerly Yamaha race engineers, and Carlo Luzzi, formerly Jorge Lorenzo’s telemetry technician at Yamaha.

According to one analysis of pre-season tests at Sepang and Qatar, Dovizioso’s average placing in the tests was third, while Pedrosa’s was ninth. Pedrosa complained of problems with the suspension and chassis, and at the first race of the season in Qatar, Dovizioso finished third, while Pedrosa finished in seventh place. Pedrosa experienced speed wobbles down the front straight, and Honda determined that they had committed a mistake in the design of the chassis, and that by trying to make the bike easier to ride, they made it too flexible.

By the following round at Jerez, Pedrosa had a new chassis and finished the race in second place and Dovizioso finished in sixth; in the test after the race, Pedrosa finished fastest and Dovizioso fifth, using a new swingarm that Pedrosa used in the race, and also a new chassis. Pedrosa later said and Honda confirmed that a fuel sensor problem slowed down the RC212V in the final laps and may have cost him the victory at Jerez.

At the third round at Le Mans, Dovizioso finished the race in third and Pedrosa in fifth, the latter getting passed in the last lap by Dovizioso and Hayden and later reporting problems with the rear brake. Melandri had switched back to Showa suspension and finished in sixth place. At the fourth round at Mugello, Pedrosa won the race, Dovizioso finished third and Melandri finished fifth. Pedrosa used a 2009 model rear shock. During first practice at the 14th round at Motegi, the throttle cable stuck and caused Pedrosa to crash and break his collarbone, causing him to miss the race and putting him out of contention for the championship. At the 16th round in Australia, Dovizioso's steering damper had a problem, forcing him to retire from the race. The season ended with Honda placing second in the MotoGP constructor championship with 342 points, 62 points behind first-place Yamaha and 56 points ahead of third-place Ducati.