Marc Márquez’s ability to fight for victory to the end made an impact on Alberto Puig, on another positive weekend for the Repsol Honda team.
“There is nothing negative to take away from this weekend in Austria,” says Alberto Puig, who congratulates the race winner and promises that both the Repsol Honda Team and Marc Márquez will be even stronger at Silverstone. The British Grand Prix will mark the return of Jorge Lorenzo, whom Alberto Puig and the team are waiting on to work together and continue moving forward.
What was the strategy for the Red Bull Ring race?
“The strategy was to try and have a good and consistent rhythm, then see where we could go from there – as we always do. The tire choice was, let’s not say a mistake, but if we had chosen a different tire I think the result would have been different – I’m pretty sure about that. But, as we saw, Marc was able to push and stay fighting for the victory until the end.”
Positive points and negative points after the race?
“There is nothing negative to take away from this weekend in Austria. Nobody was injured, everything went OK in the race overall. Normally we race to win but when somebody beats you, you should accept defeat and congratulate them. But in these situations you also have to come back and try even harder next time – this is Honda and Marc’s mentality. In two weeks we have another race and we will try again to win.”
What was the view from the pit wall during the race?
“From the pit canopy you can see only one thing; it’s very simple. All weekend Márquez had a pace that was 0.3s or 0.4s faster than the rest. But today, on race day, he couldn’t match what we had seen in practice. Maybe the rain changed the track and the grip, we aren’t exactly sure, but there was certainly something different from practice. Immediately we understood that the situation was not going as predicted. Of course, in racing plans and predictions can change in minutes.”
The next round in Silverstone and Jorge Lorenzo will come back.
“We are looking forward to seeing Jorge Lorenzo in Silverstone, we expect and we hope he is ok from a physical point of view after his injury. We understand that he won’t be at his 100 percent. After a long injury like his and not riding the bike for two months, it is difficult to find the speed. We want him to come back with motivation to ride again, to be part of the team, to give us feedback and move forward.
Last year Silverstone was a difficult day on Sunday because of the conditions but I have heard they have completely resurfaced the circuit and the initial feedback seems very positive. So let’s go to England and see what happens.”
