The title is somewhat provocative, but we have the right to legitimately ask the question.
We are still talking about the world champion bike and team, and a rider, Stefan bradl, who, replacing the unfortunate but glorious Spaniard, has just finished the Austrian Grand Prix in last position, more than 28 seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso, the same final classification as during the previous Grand Prix in Brno!
The German pilot explains it this way: “It was a difficult weekend for us, we didn't have the necessary speed, we were handicapped by the sessions which were damp or wet because we still had to test a lot of parts. HRC is testing new parts with me, we know that, that's why the results don't really matter. This limited our preparation time for the race, so our situation was not as competitive as it could have been. And when I saw the crash that led to the abandonment of the first race, I was very shocked because I saw that the bikes had been completely destroyed. Regardless, we learned a lot from this weekend, and we'll see what happens next weekend when I ride for the Repsol Honda team again. Now it’s time to sit down and analyze the data. »
In Brno, where he also finished last, his words had the same tone: “Honestly, it was a pretty tough day. Committing to a race weekend is always tricky, so we did the most we could. During the race I didn't really feel comfortable on the bike, but I was able to get a good start. On the seventh or eighth lap, I unfortunately made a braking mistake in turn 1 and went wide. Then I raced on my own and did what I could. I can't wait for next weekend. We have a whole weekend of data to better understand the bike, so let's see what's possible. »
Without prejudging the application of the saying “jamais deux sans trois” on peut quand même s’interroger sur la compétitivité du pilote d’essais officiel de Honda car, après tout, il est quand même censé développer, donc connaître parfaitement, la moto, ce qui n’apparaît pas comme complètement évident en l’écoutant.
After Brno, Alberto puig seemed to have the same expectation: “The strategy was clearly different for the two drivers. Stefan tried a lot of things over the weekend, he was very busy. He had a lot of difficulty understanding what the perfect setup was for the race. He tried his best, but unfortunately he went off the track and lost a lot of time, so he couldn't fight for a better finish. Together with Stefan we will see in the following days whether we are testing new parts or what kind of weekend we are going to prepare from a technical point of view. »
We can bet that the same question will arise after this Austrian Grand Prix, unless only the obligation to replace Marc Márquez, under penalty of financial penalties, justifies the presence of the 30-year-old German on the champion RC213V. of the world…
Standings for the Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
