The Honda team returned to the podium this Sunday at the Aragón Grand Prix , in which Marc Márquez fought for victory until the finish line, where the Italian Pecco Bagnaia ended up beating the Spanish rider, who despite finishing second showed a level of intensity in battle reminiscent of Marquez from before the injury.
“Clearly we have to mention the great effort of Marc Márquez while the other Honda riders suffered a lot”, explains Alberto Puig in his usual analysis of the grand prix weekend.
“Marc had a fantastic race, he tried everything and gave everything he had until the last moment. We are very happy to see him riding for the top positions again. We know that Márquez is fast in Aragón , but also his competitor in this race, Bagnaia, was very strong. Marc can normally win here, but this is a great result this season as a whole. The combination of Márquez and the Honda RC213V was great on Sunday”, he adds.
Still in full recovery phase, Márquez endured an explosive battle until the last lap.
“He had a good performance and we really appreciate this second podium finish of the year. Although he is not 100% fit, Marc managed to perform very well and show the spirit and determination that have taken him to where he is”, says the HRC executive.
The other side of the coin was the race of Pol Espargaró , who was coming off his best weekend of the year at Silverstone and was penalized by the grip conditions on the track.
“It wasn’t easy for Pol. He was missing some important things on the bike for his riding style here and he couldn’t perform like he did at Silverstone. He couldn’t stop the bike the way he likes. We have to keep trying and working with him to solve these problems. Something is missing in the combination between him and the bike”, says Puig.
Despite Marc’s great performance, the team’s Team Manager is aware that for Honda, in general, it was not a good weekend.
“The negative is clearly the crash of Alex Márquez and the fact that Takaaki Nakagami and Pol couldn’t have been closer to the riders in front at a circuit that they both enjoy and where they have raced well in the past. But we can be happy with Marc’s performance, that motivates us to continue working and developing our bike for the future, to continue raising the level and improving”.
The great performance of Márquez collided with a Bagnaia that completed an impressive race and did not give the Honda rider an option.
“We were able to understand that Pecco Bagnaia was very strong and didn’t make mistakes. We have to congratulate him. We expected that with a pace of 1:49 we would have more chances to beat him, but Pecco was driving very well”, admits Puig.
Still unable to win, Puig highlights the importance for HRC of having a driver with the profile of Márquez.
“The important point of Motorland is that we could see that Marc’s DNA has not changed and he always tries, even when it is almost impossible or when he probably knew that the Ducati was stronger on the straight. He never gave up and for a company like Honda, it is important to have a rider like him ”.
With no time to recover, the World Championship arrives this week in Misano, where the San Marino Grand Prix is being held, followed by an official MotoGP test.
“I think all races are important, but it is true that this week we also have Stefan Bradl as a wild card and there is a test after the grand prix, which in many ways is even more important for us than the race. We have been trying to improve our machine, our engineers will use this test to collect interesting data and improve the bike for the future, ”concludes the Honda boss.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of the 2021 Aragón GP MotoGP race)
