Alberto Puig: “Nobody knows what Márquez is doing, only him”

October 25, 2021

The eventful MotoGP race of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix held this Sunday ended up yielding the best result of the season for the Repsol Honda team, which captured the first two places on the podium with the third victory of the course for Marc Márquez, second in a row, and Pol Espargaró’s first podium since signing for the winged brand.

Alberto Puig , HRC Team Manager, gave his impressions of the Misano weekend, as usual every Monday after the races.

“This weekend was a good opportunity to compare the race with the first one held a month ago in Misano , and thus be able to see our progress”, explains Puig. “Leaving with this result is great. A 1-2 is never easy, not even being in your best condition and this is not the case, we are not in our best moment”, he adds.

“However, we have achieved a fantastic result thanks to a combination of factors and the great efforts of our riders, the continued work of Honda and of course the hard work of our team members. We clearly showed that we will never give up or give up.”

For Marc Márquez , Misano is the third race of the course, the second in a row and the first on a circuit that turns to the right, a factor highly highlighted by the runner himself.

“For Marc, this is an even more difficult period than all the others. He’s still recovering, he’s still in trouble, he’s still not fully back, he knows it and we know it. That is why this victory in Misano, especially on this track, has even more value. What this guy is doing, no one knows apart from him, “said the former pilot.

On the other side of the garage, the first great result of the season with a podium finally arrived.

“ Pol Espargaró has been enduring a very difficult season in which there were great expectations. We know that it has not been easy, but the positive thing is that he never gives up. He is always trying to find a solution, just like his team; his group shares his attitude of never giving up,” Puig points out.

“So finally this podium was like a gift, he deserves it, but it is also a gift for the team and for Honda because we are all helping him as much as we can. We are very happy for him and the fact that he has achieved his best position for Honda, with his first podium finish in these colours, shows the potential. Now we hope that his confidence continues to grow and he can continue to push the bike to the limit, as he did on Sunday.”

With two races to go to conclude a difficult season, the one-two finish at Misano does not stop Puig’s ambitions for the rest of the year.

“This is a winning team, and our focus is always trying to win, our goal is to fight for the title every year. The only difference is that sometimes the situation is not perfect. The last two years have not been easy for us, but you will not find a single person within this team who wants to go to the next race to try to finish second. We will go to the next race trying to win again because this is Honda.”

The great result of Honda was overshadowed by the achievement of the World title by Fabio Quartararo, the new MotoGP champion.

“We want to congratulate Fabio and Yamaha for their title in Misano two races before the end of the championship. They deserve it. Fabio has been the best rider this season, he won five races, he got many podiums and he really deserves it”, concluded Puig.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Pol Espargaro, Repsol Honda Team