Puig returned to the circuits this past weekend after several weeks away for personal reasons and his reappearance coincided with one of the busiest races in recent times, with a change of bike and a great opportunity, with the onset of rain, to a Marc Márquez who is far from his best version on a physical level, but who proved not to have lost an iota of essence as a winning driver.
“The takeaway from this Sunday’s race is that when you are born a champion, you will always be a champion. Marc saw the possibility of winning at Le Mans and even in his current physical condition, he tried it”, explains Puig in his usual post-race summary ‘Track Report’, on the Honda Racing website.
“He was leading the race, he crashed, got back on the bike and was again the fastest rider on track. It’s a shame that he fell again, but his spirit and the willpower he has inside him is incredible.”
“Of course, we are not happy with the final result, but we are happy to see Marc showing us his true self, which has not been lost after all these hard months,” adds the former rider.
Puig puts the emphasis on the pace that Márquez managed to print after the first crash, when he was leading the race, which allowed him to climb positions until he was back in the top ten.
“The most positive thing is to see the spirit of this man. What really defines you is your spirit. After all these months he has never given up. We could see at Le Mans that he saw that he had a chance of victory, and even in the current circumstances his spirit remained. He wants to win and sooner or later it will happen. He is not ready from a physical point of view at the moment, but Honda HRC knows this and will wait until he is ready. Marc probably needs more time and we’ll wait.”
The HRC drivers who did finish the race were Alex Márquez (6th), Takaaki Nakagami (7th) and Pol Espargaró (8th), all of them in the top 10.
“Espargaró had a problem at the beginning of the race ( Morbidelli hit him from behind) and he was forced to come back from further back. Without this problem it would have been faster, but in any case, its position is not bad. However, we are always wanting more”, asks Puig .
“Overall we can’t be happy with the results of Honda HRC in France , but Alex and Takaaki fought for the podium, they finished the race and ultimately we have to take the result as good.”
After having to watch the previous two races ( Portimao and Jerez) from home, Puig returned to the Honda wall this weekend.
“At first it was very exciting to see Marc leading a race again and then after his crash to see his lap times and see him close the gap despite being so far away. For the other HRC drivers, I think they lost some time early on and were fighting in the second group. From the middle of the race to the end they tried to survive and finally Bagnaia was faster than them.”
The HRC Team Manager is aware that Honda , which has not won a race since Valencia 2019 , is not going through its best moment.
“Currently we are facing some problems, as we said in Jerez, and we are not hiding it. We have to improve the RC213V, we must. Marc’s circumstances are unique because he is still injured and is not 100% fit. His focus is returning to his full strength step by step. But on the other hand we have to improve the bike and this is what the engineers are trying to do and they know the deadline for it. The next two races (Italy and Catalunya ) are on two very demanding tracks, especially Mugello , and we need to find a very balanced machine. Let’s see if we can prepare some solutions, arrive and do our best”, settled the Catalan executive.
The photos of Marc Márquez at the 2021 MotoGP French Grand Prix
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
