Livio Suppo has retired from a paddock in which he held key positions in two of the largest teams that are part of it. Manager at Ducati, then at Repsol Honda, he experienced the best of two different worlds, so to speak, with world titles in the company of Casey Stoner. Since then, he has been busy elsewhere, but he remains a keen observer. So on what is happening under the HRC awning where the Marc Márquez tree cannot hide a dense and inhospitable forest where a terrible Alberto Puig prowls…
When the live Alberto puig will read the last interview of the person he succeeded at Repsol Honda, there is no doubt that he will have the mask. As usual, no doubt, but it will be even harder. Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant spoke about the last starters of the official Honda team, exhausted by the domination of Marc Márquez. Jorge Lorenzo et Dani Pedrosa are these. But according to the Italian, Alberto puig is not free from reproaches in its management, even for different reasons.
Let's take the case of Jorge Lorenzo who announced his retirement only to find himself a few weeks after test pilot Yamaha . A situation which would not have occurred under his responsibility, affirms suppo : “ I would have put a clause to avoid that » swears the Italian on GP One. " I don't know if the contract between Honda and Jorge ended without paying any fees for 2020. I don't know if they paid him part or nothing as originally planned. Of course, it's strange that a house like Honda would allow this to a rider who had said he wanted to retire. For me, it was to be avoided. » And he insists: “ if I had been at Honda, I would have prevented Lorenzo from returning as a tester at Yamaha »
Before him, Dani Pedrosa had left, to also embrace the cause of the test driver for another manufacturer, in this case KTM. A parallel trajectory, with one thing in common: Alberto Puig. But this time the reason is different… “ I could be bad, but I avoid it. There was someone Dani Pedrosa didn't get along with at Honda or maybe someone who didn't even offer him the test pilot job. »
A clearly identified person… “ Puig created Dani, he really made him grow as a driver, in his image. Then suddenly Pedrosa didn't want to work with him anymore. Puig, who is a bit of a straight guy, with a grudge, I think he took it against himself. Dani performed very poorly in his last year compared to when I was there. In the pits, the environment was obviously not good anymore and a driver suffers a lot from these things. »
However, Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant gives discharge to the loyalty of Marc Márquez : " Márquez's 4-year contract is abnormal, but he is an abnormal driver. » Do you have to be at least that to resist Alberto puig ?
