This is the one we weren't expecting at the end of the campaign. This is Alex Marquez who has just taken two second places in the last two Grands Prix aboard a Honda that he has literally suffered since the start of what is also his first season in MotoGP. In doing so, he takes important points from the four candidates for the title who really need them, since they are grouped into 15 units. But how did the chrysalis Alex become the butterfly Marquez? The answer comes from the cocoon itself…
To know a pilot's secrets, there is rarely a better source than his chief engineer. This is also why he is not very verbose on the subject. But at Repsol Honda, the revelation ofAlex Marquez is experienced so wonderfully that it loosens tongues. On the improvement of the rookie from a good family, Ramon Aurin, his team leader, explains in an interview with 'Motorsport-Total.com': « Alex has a different riding style to Marc, and Honda tries to adapt as much as possible. Alex needed a setup and some parts which Honda luckily could give him ».
The last sentence leaves one wondering, but the result is there. There was also the method, in addition to the technique: “ when a driver arrives in a new category, he needs an adaptation process " remember aurin. " Some adapt faster than others. In Alex's case, I would say he has taken it step by step so far, but always progressing. Probably no one expected him to get there so quickly », explains the chief engineer.
“He uses a different set-up since Misano”
However, he warns against the new danger which now awaits his pilot: the systematic expectation of big results… “ I don't want to diminish Alex's performance, but we might arrive in Valencia and struggle a bit more again because the track is different and doesn't suit his driving style so well. For the moment, he hasn't won a race, and we have to move slowly “, he emphasizes.
The approach therefore remains the same: “Did he have a good race at Alcaniz? I will be the first to say it, but we have to take it step by step. We don't want to fire missiles and risk them hitting us later ».
In this situation, his teammate Stefan bradl adds the time factor, that is to say the moment when the situation began to turn favorably for Alex Marquez : “ he uses a different set-up since Misano. From then on, he improved step by step. Sometimes he took two steps forward, sometimes one step back. In any case, he understands the bike very well at the moment. This made it very competitive in Aragon. He had a very good race », Analyzes the German.
