Probably never in its history have the official Honda troops presented themselves for the start of a season with such reduced numbers. Its champions are indeed far from their optimal form. Marc Márquez has a still fragile shoulder, Jorge Lorenzo has a convalescing scaphoid, and Cal Crutchlow monitors badly injured ankle after crash at Australian Grand Prix. Even team manager Alberto Puig has an arm in a sling. He delivers his expertise on a situation in which Ducati openly hopes to benefit from the first Grands Prix…
The start of the 2019 campaign does not look easy for the HRC. In a peloton where the competition has perhaps never been so fierce, he throws himself into the fray with his champions who have not yet completely recovered from their injuries and other operations. The Sepang tests showed an exhausted Márquez, without Lorenzo at his side, while Cal Crutchlow ran the store.
Le 10 mars, ce sera pour de vrai au Qatar. Mais il faudra sans doute faire profil bas chez Honda. “Nous savons en principe où nous devons aller avec la moto“, a déclaré Alberto Puig, responsable de l’équipe à MotoGP.com. “Maintenant, nous devons attendre que les pilotes se mettent en forme… Marc a fait quelque chose d’extraordinaire à Sepang parce qu’il n’était pas physiquement dans la plus belle des formes. Malgré tout, c’était rapide ".
Although Márquez was spared and couldn't drive as many laps as usual, his feedback was important. Since then, left shoulder training has continued. Start of the week, Márquez est revenu sur une piste, même sur quatre roues. Sur un tracé de karting à Tarragone, le pilote de de 26 ans a réalisé quelques tours avec un Kart de Fernando Alonso. “New shoulder exercises“, a commenté Márquez sous une vidéo.
Seguimos con la recuperación, símulos nuevos para el hombro💪🏼
We continue with the recovery, new exercises for the shoulder!🏎 pic.twitter.com/xpTAC7BMxf- Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) February 19, 2019
Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo strengthens his injured wrist. The Spaniard has posted various updates on his social media. Lorenzo s’attend à ce que sa main gauche soit à 80% au Qatar. “Qatar will be the first real test for Jorge“, Says Alberto Puig, certain that Lorenzo s’adaptera rapidement à la RC213V. “Il ne sera pas en pleine forme mais il est important qu’il soit de nouveau sur la moto ».
This weekend, Losail will host MotoGP for final tests.
