Alberto Puig, Team Manager for the Repsol Honda team, analyses Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa’s Austrian Grand Prix performances from this past weekend.
The MotoGP World Championship has started the second half of the season with consecutive races in the Czech Republic and Austria, in which Marc Márquez has continued to extend his lead in the overall standings. For Alberto Puig, Team Manager for the Repsol Honda team, this positive aspect and the comeback by Dani Pedrosa during the race were two of the key parts of the weekend at Spielberg.
What was the strategy for the Austrian race?
“The strategy for Marc was try to push from the beginning and try to go, but it was very difficult because we knew that both Ducatis had the potential here. Marc did a great job and had the chance to win until last lap.”
The positive points after the race?
“Marc increased his advantage at the top of the championship for the fifth consecutive race and now Honda is leading the Riders, Constructors and Teams World Championships. Dani normally tries to start well and be with the front group. He started not so bad at all, but in turn three he was in the middle of a big mess with other riders and he lost some positions, from 7th to 14th. It made his race pretty tough, but he overtook many riders and finally finished seventh.”
The view from pit wall during the race?
“It was very intense for us, a very difficult race! Then there were some of the great overtakes that happen in MotoGP. It was a great show for the fans – the battle between Lorenzo and Marquez was very beautiful to watch.”
The inside story apart from the official comments?
“This Grand Prix is special for us because it is Red Bull’s home race and they always organise many interesting activities with our riders. But also last Tuesday we had an interesting event in Vienna, where Marc supported ’No Ride without Training’, a campaign promoting safe motorcycle riding on the roads of Austria.”
