At Le Mans, Alberto Puig made a statement which, today, weighs heavily in the evaluation of Honda's situation in MotoGP. The director of the Repsol team in fact launched from Sarthe an ultimatum to the HRC engineers by setting them two Grands Prix to review their copy. These two deadlines have passed, in Italy and Catalonia. And said copy is still just as bad. Or even worse since on the Barcelona side neither of the two drivers of the big official team saw the finish due to a fall. Meanwhile, a head of headquarters has landed in Montmélo and rumors of concession points to settlement ran. It's a crisis at Honda.
At the center of this turmoil we find the team director Alberto puig. During the season, he experienced serious health problems which he now seems to be able to manage since he is back on the field. But the said terrain offers him a spectacle of desolation. Taking stock of the seventh round of the championship, he could only see the damage: “ we didn't expect both of our pilots to crash " said Puig. “ It's not good, there's nothing more to add ».
The Spaniard does it all the same: “ from a performance point of view, it is not possible to find a good point. All we can say is that HRC and the team are 100% committed to solving these problems and trying to find solutions for our drivers. Honda HRC never makes excuses and neither do its riders. There is a problem, we need to solve it and we are working to solve it ».
Still, the next step is likely to be yet another disillusionment. It is in fact the Sachsenring, a route where Marc Márquez is undefeated since 2010. At the time he was still in the 125 cc category. “ The Sachsenring is a track where our drivers have always been fast, especially Marc, we all know his speed there. But for now, circumstances are not perfect to make a big move between races, from Barcelona to Germany. In any case, we will try, of course » says Puig who also knows that his eight-time World Champion is not physically at his best.
Still, the situation is taken very seriously in Japan. The HRC manager does not hide the disappointment of the double zero regretted by Team Repsol in Montmelò. The former big boss Kokubu San was also present, coming specially from Japan to understand what is happening in the most successful team at the world championship. Honda Technology Manager Kokubu San flew from Japan to Montmelò and that only means one thing: Honda's HRC deadline has expired and now things are being handled directly by Honda. 'business.
The notable visit of Kokubu San
« If Kokubu San came here, it means they are ready to listen, understand our problems and give us a solution " said Pol Espargaro with diplomacy. “ This is already a very important step. It's not something that can be solved overnight, it's MotoGP, everyone works a lot so this is the first step. It became clear that we all have the same problem. We need to start building a stronger foundation, a better bike and we need to be united, not separated or competing ».
The last words of the cadet I will spread seem to have a slight critical aftertaste compared to the way the work has been accomplished so far, with Marc Marquez which however managed to show something positive, while arguing that this RC213V is a motorcycle with too many critical problems. “ During Monday's testing in Barcelona I tried to do as many laps as possible. It served as training for me, but it helped me to trying to figure out what the real problems are with this bike, i tried a lot of things ". Which also means that we are firing on all cylinders without being able to yet define a course.
