We talk to Alberto Puig, Repsol Honda Team Manager, about the sixth round of the season at the Jerez Circuit
Overall, how would you define the weekend and the race?
“It was not a bad race. I think Marc Márquez did a very good job. It was not an easy weekend; we were struggling a little but Marc was able to manage a good result with an exciting race. This is encouraging after his feeling was not so good in Portimao. He handled the situation well during the whole race, he had a good battle with the riders around him and he saved one crash – it has been some time since he did this.”
Márquez earned 13 important points, is it a small step on his path to the championship or is he thinking race by race and just working to recover his feeling with himself and with the RC213V?
“We are working to fix the points of the bike that are still not correct and this process is underway. We have an important test on Monday to allow us to better understand the new machine because of course Marc’s target is not to be finishing fourth or sixth, his target, and also the target of the Repsol Honda Team, is to win races and titles. This is the only target.”
How was the save from inside the garage?
“Scary! This is not nice to experience. But at the end, if there is no crash, it is spectacular to watch but better not to watch it.”
What are the positive and negative points from Jerez?
“The positive is that Marc was back fighting in and for the top positions. Pol Espargaró made a good start, but he could not manage to get a good position in the opening laps after a big moment at Turn 5, so finally it was not so easy. He had the speed this weekend, but unfortunately, we could not find a good setting and it was not possible to get a good result.”
