After Jorge Lorenzo announced his surprise retirement in November 2019 when he found himself unable to ride a motorcycle that only Marc Márquez could dominate, Honda considered the need to make changes to its RC213V prototype so that not only its star could drive it. A direction that was confirmed, even more so, when the Japanese brand understood that the injury suffered by its reference pilot in July 2020 was going to last a long time.
The request from the rest of the brand’s riders, especially Pol Espargaró, who arrived in 2021, was to give the bike more grip at the rear, while for Marc the key to his riding was based on control of the train front to be able to enter corners aggressively.
When the design of the bike was changed to have more rear grip, the front end control was lost, and when it came to getting it back, the bike stopped going well front and rear.
Speaking to Alex Márquez during the Dutch Grand Prix, the gold-winged marque rider admitted that “perhaps” Honda had gotten lost “hearing different comments than Marc.”
Alex joined the official Repsol team to replace Lorenzo in 2020, and in his rookie year he achieved two podium finishes and finished the season always fighting in the front positions. With his move to LCR and the change of bike, his performance has been mysteriously diluted. For any young driver, the big dream is to reach the almighty HRC, a journey that for Alex has turned into a nightmare.
“I was able to live a bit of the sweet moment in 2020 as a rookie. What I didn’t expect when I renewed and moved to the LCR is that the situation would be like it is now. No driver imagines when he signs a two-year contract that there are going to be all these problems. It has happened like this, it has been a combination of many things. But it is clear that the riders who are in Honda are fast, but we cannot take advantage of the bike that we would like, “explained Alex to Motorsport.com.
When you try to unravel the reasons that have led Honda to get completely lost in the development of its MotoGP prototype, Alex offers some interesting clues.
“In the winter of 2020, with Marc not being there, they lost their way a bit, especially because at HRC they were used for many years to a rider setting the guideline for them, at that time perhaps Honda listened, and somehow got mixed up way, because the comments were different from those that Marc gave at that time. And there he lost his way”, valued the two-time world champion.
“Yes, it is true that at the end of last year (2021) it was improved and they were able, especially the official team, which was the one with the newest parts, to win races. But this year, with the bike we have, there was the risk that it didn’t work and it has. At the moment the way is not being found, nor are the new pieces that arrive working as everyone expects”.
What is clear, in all this situation of the Honda crisis, is that the problem points more to a failed bike, than to the lack of quality of the riders.
“I am still the same as in 2020, when I made podiums as a rookie, I would even tell you that I am a better driver, I have the category closer to hand, I understand tires much more, electronics and, in short, everything. But I don’t I feel like I should feel on a motorcycle, enjoying myself and with the feeling that is needed to be fast. From there, let each one draw their conclusions, but people think they are intelligent and they see what is happening,” he ditches. an Alex Márquez who will leave Honda at the end of the season to become, next season, a rider for the Gresini-Ducati team.
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