During the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Misano a press conference was held with representatives of the independent teams. They included Paolo Campinoti, Team Principal of Pramac Racing, Lucio Cecchinello, Team Manager of LCR Honda, Carlo Merlini, Sales and Marketing Director of Gresini Racing, Hervé Poncharal, Team Manager of Tech3 KTM Factory Racing, Razlan Razali, Team Principal of Petronas Yamaha SRT, and Paul Grandson, Team Manager of SKY VR46 Racing Team.
As with all official press conferences, this one was divided between questions from Dorna Sports host Steve Day and those from the journalists.
Questioned in turn, Lucio Cecchinello himself admitted: This year's results are lower than last year. This is explained by the fact that the LCR team is today paying for the lack of development of the 213 RC2020V due to the absence of Marc Márquez for almost a full season.
From this point of view, however, the situation is being restored.
Lucio Cecchinello : " It may not be visible but Honda has made enormous efforts in recent months to close the gap with the opponents. I believe the truth is that the fact that Marc Márquez was injured and was out for many months meant that there was not really a leading rider to guide the development of the bike. We have to remember that Pol (Espargaró) joined Honda HRC only this year, that Álex (Márquez) changed teams and squads, and that Taka (Nakagami) went from a previous year's bike to a motorcycle of the current year. So all this affected the development of the motorcycle. Definitely, Honda is working a lot and also working on the prototype for next year's machine, which is a pretty big step forward, so we're really confident that we can close the gap. »
On the other hand, the Italian team manager recognizes with a certain frankness the weak points of his drivers, even of his team! He thus draws the following uncompromising picture.
« First of all, I would like to say that, for example with Taka, we were close to having a good result and the podium in Jerez, close to having an extremely good result for example in America two weeks ago, and unfortunately what we have seen is that Taka needs to improve his ability to handle pressure. If you also remember last year we started from pole position in Aragón and Taka crashed after a few corners. He definitely needs to work on himself to improve his ability to deal with pressure.
He found a very good feeling with the bike, he is extremely fast and he has always been fast this year. Maybe we struggled a bit to be quick straight away, and we just need to work on it during testing, but I think he can have a pretty good end to the season because he found some really good setups on the motorbike. In reality, as I told you before, Honda supplied a lot of parts, so he was able to take several frames and elements, different suspension specifications, and he really customized his bike for himself. It's very impressive how fast he can be. »
« With Álex (Márquez), we have to admit that… The truth is that last year, during the second part of the season, Álex made podiums and showed that he was capable of being with the top drivers. This year it is not. Definitely, it's not just that we have to point the finger at the motorcycle. It is certain that the opponents have progressed more than we have progressed, but we also have to recognize that perhaps we need to work harder inside our team to provide the best bike for Álex. »
Two days before the end of this MotoGP 2021 season, Takaaki Nakagami is in 15th position in the general classification with 71 points, immediately preceding a Alex Marquez holder of 54 units. For comparison, 2020 saw the Japanese driver finish in 10th position with 116 points, while the Spaniard scored 74 points to finish in 14th place.
If the differential is relatively large for Takaaki Nakagami, stability seems generally required for Alex Marquez, the common point between the two this year being above all the lack of highlights compared to last season.
