The executive spoke to Motorsport.com before the explosive race held last Sunday in Alcañiz , where Pecco Bagnaia debuted his record of victories in the heavy bike category, after a high-voltage duel with Márquez that was not decided until the last lap. The version offered by the driver from Cervera (Lleida) in Motorland begins to resemble the one that led him to dominate the championship with total authority, with six titles out of seven possible, before that fateful crash in Jerez , at the start of last year .
However, the road to reach that point still seems to be a long one, both due to the limitations that in certain situations condition the Catalan’s driving, and due to the technical aspects that Honda is working on to reduce the RC213V’s lack of traction.
While that arrives, there have been many voices that have agreed to point out that the bad moment that affects the Japanese manufacturer is a direct consequence of its own philosophy, the one that leads to concentrating most of the resources and attention on Márquez , without having so much taking into account the needs of the other riders of the brand.
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For Alberto Puig , what happened with the #93 will not make Honda go a single millimeter out of that approach that led the Tokyo company to pass the roller.
“Our philosophy will not change at all because Marc has been screwed up for a year and a half. He is not a pilot anymore. He’s not just the best Honda rider, he’s the best in the world. We have a long contract (until 2024), and we are going to do everything to give him the bike he deserves. Obviously Pol (Espargaró) is also very important, but Marc’s track record is what it is”, explains the former driver to whom he writes these lines.
The numbers are the main argument of those who defend that Honda misses the shot by putting all the eggs in the same basket. In the 15 grands prix that Márquez missed while recovering from his right arm failure, Honda added only two podium finishes, in both cases second places for Alex Márquez , at Le Mans and Aragón 2020. The crashes accumulated, as did they do it this year, motivated by a motorcycle that does not forgive. Since his return at Portimão , the Spaniard has already equaled those two podium finishes by winning at the Sachsenring and finishing second last Sunday, at Motorland . At the same time, he is also the member of the grid that has rolled the most on the ground, with 18 falls.
Despite missing the first two races, Márquez is the highest placed among the Honda riders. He occupies the tenth place in the general table, with 79 points in his locker. Next up is Takaaki Nakagami , 13th, with 64 points. Pol Espargaró is 14th (55 points) and Alex Márquez is 15th (49 points).
If HRC , through the mouth of Puig, does not intend to change its strategy, it is based on a belief: the conviction that its flagship will once again be in a position to impose its dominance. And that belief derives from a feeling that has been more than proven: “Do you know why I have no doubt that Marc will be the same as before? Because he has not taken fear ”, reflects Puig . “Because he was standing for a long time and when he ran again he fell down again going very fast. But he got up and rolled back even faster. In a racing driver, fear is what makes the difference between those who are ahead and those who are not; those who after hurting themselves on the first day are eight tenths from the first, then one second, then two and then they go home, ”says the person in charge of Honda .
Dorna’s photo
