Back at the dawn of their invasion of the motorcycle industry, the Japanese mantra was “copy, but improve”.

Honda have clearly not forgotten the value of this. On the first day at CotA, one of Marquez’s pair of factory Repsol Hondas emerged with a copy of Ducati’s controversial swing-arm scoop.

It is the same part with which HRC teased technical director Danny Aldridge in Argentina, proposing it first at a downforce device, so that it was banned, but submitting it again the next day as a tyre cooler, whereupon it was approved.

Honda and all the other manufacturers except Yamaha had protested Ducati’s use of the device at round one in Qatar, only to be over-ruled, eventually by the appeal court. We can expect to see other manufacturers copying in the races to come.

by Michael Scott

Photos GnG