Repsol Honda Team manager Alberto Puig highlights Marc Márquez’s tyre management at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Jorge Lorenzo did not manage to feel comfortable on his bike.
The fourth round of the 2019 season meant the arrival of the MotoGP World Championship to Europe. The first stop in the old continent was one of the most emblematic circuits on the calendar, the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, where Marc Márquez claimed his second victory of the year and returned to the top spot in the overall standings. On the other side of the box, Alberto Puig and the Repsol Honda Team are still working to enable Jorge Lorenzo to find the feeling to allow him to go faster.
What was the strategy for the Jerez race?
“This is a circuit where you cannot escape in one lap; you have to do it little by little, as Marc [Márquez] did. Tenth by tenth, trying to open the gap calmly. He waited to feel comfortable and when the tyre started to drop he could keep the pace and other riders couldn’t. Unfortunately Jorge [Lorenzo] still doesn’t feel perfect with the bike, we are waiting to find what he needs to be fast on the bike. Jorge’s strategy was to start well and move up the field, to fight with more riders ahead but he wasn’t able to do this and left unhappy with his result in the race.”
Positive points and negative points after race?
“A positive was the victory, Marc and Honda are again leading the Rider and Constructor championships and Marc feels comfortable with the RC213V. The negative is that Jorge isn’t in the position we would like. Now we start races in Europe, when the weather conditions are sometimes complicated at tracks like Le Mans, where it’s cold and normally rains.”
The view from pit wall during race?
“We knew Jerez would be a track where we had to work calmly, progressively and Marc has been calm.”
Inside story apart from official comments?
“What is clear is that there is a new generation who are reducing the gap at the front, Jerez has been an example of this. Races are very competitive, we have to be careful and try to get the maximum numbers of points each weekend as everything is very close now.”
