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RC51 Superbike Tests More Than Promising

><br /><b>Honda RC51</div> <p>Neil Tuxworth, head of the Castrol Honda Racing team in the World Superbike series, already has extensive experience with factory tests of the new RC51 1000cc v-twin Superbike.<br /> <br /> European press quotes Tuxworth as praising the bike, and pointing out that, in early tests, the bike has already lapped at least one circuit faster than the Honda RC45 (which has been extensively developed over five years of racing). Both Colin Edwards and Aaron Slight, Castrol Honda’s riders who piloted RC45s last season, have also been quoted praising the new V-twin — expecting it to be very competitive, and even a winner, right out of the box.<br /> <br /> Normally, new Superbikes require at least one season of testing and set-up before they are capable of winning races. Take, for example, Noriyuki Haga, who broke at least one lap record on the Yamaha R7 during its development phase — but struggled with the Superbike during its first World Superbike season.<br /> <br /> If the Honda V-twin can really win races in its first year, this will be a testament to Honda’s careful development and testing of the prototype. We would expect Honda to go all out to develop a winning bike given the handling problems associated with the RC45 (which were never completely cured).<br /> <br /> As we said in an earlier article, we also expect Honda’s AMA Superbike team of Miguel Duhamel and Nicky Hayden to be competitive, and win races, in the RC51’s first year.</p><div class=

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