We talk to Alberto Puig, Repsol Honda Team Manager, about the second round of the season at the Mandalika International Circuit
A difficult weekend in Indonesia. What’s the feeling?
“The feeling, speaking frankly, was not good at all. Point One: Marc had many crashes and could not race. Point Two: In the pre-season we were very fast and then suddenly Michelin changed the tyre and our bike was also changed completely. We still don’t fully understand what happened and we will have to discuss deeply with Michelin the tyre situation. To go from being very, very fast one month ago to the situation we are in this weekend, it’s very difficult for our riders to be consistent and have confidence. Overall, we can’t be happy.”
How is Marc after the race and what’s next?
“The next step is his recovery. This weekend has been very hard, the crash in Warm Up, his fourth of the weekend, was a massive one. Right now we want him to rest. We feel we took the correct decision under the circumstances of his crashes.”
Pol was the fastest in Mandalika during the test but this weekend he struggled every session.
“During the race Pol had a big problem with his helmet. It looks like he could not see properly and I think he will check this situation with his helmet company. Clearly, he was not that fast but from what he said to us and the team after the race, he couldn’t see from the first lap. With such a massive amount of water from being in a group of four or five riders, if you can’t see, you have no chance. It was not a good result for him.”
Any positive points here?
“The positive point is we were able to come back to Indonesia. We like being back here. Unfortunately, the situation was not the best for us and also for the fans due to the rain.”
Now Argentina and Texas.
“There is never anything normal in racing and you can never expect anything. We came here a few weeks ago, we were fast and now we are slow. Let’s see. We need to understand what happened with the Michelin tyre, we need to have a deep conversation with them. The next races are at circuits that have been good for Marc and for Honda in the past. We hope that Marc is better and that we can do our best when we go there.”
