Santi Hernández is perhaps the most familiar bearded, shadowy man in the MotoGP box. It must be said that he owes this exposure to the one he serves, Marc Márquez. It is all the successes and exploits of the Honda official. The current debate that the RC213V was made for him has therefore not escaped him. Which he refutes. And for good reason: It’s its driver that alone makes the difference! Here's how…
According to Santi Hernández, the secret of competitiveness Marc Márquez simply lies in his ability to make the most of the material at his disposal. According to the Spaniard, once you have determined the limit of the bike, you know how it behaves 100% and you know how to behave. “ What Marc does is always look for the limit, there are other drivers who don't want to look for it or simply can't find it or don't want to risk finding this limit ».
« When you have a problem or you're about to crash and you know the feeling you're going to have on the bike, you try to save the day because you've done it before. When you don't go all out, you don't know how to act. When we hear that the Honda is made for Marc… I think it’s Marc who makes the difference », declares the track engineer.
Many say that the Honda is a bike fit for the Cervera rider but Santi Hernández assures that this is not true. “ To say that Marc's style conditions that of others, I don't think so. Yes, it is true that certain aspects of the bike can be conditioned, because if Marc decides to go in one direction and Honda decides that it is the best option, there are other riders who do not like this character which can condition many things. We see that Jorge received a tank, saddle, footrests, etc. That is to say, they try a lot of things that we don't try since Honda wants to improve Jorge's bike. Therefore, it is not true that only Marc decides what the other drivers have ».
However… " At the moment the No. 1 driver is at Honda and I think we have to follow his instructions. When we arrived in 2013 we found a motorcycle made and we had to adapt because the #1 rider was Dani. Some lines were then followed in 2014, but from 2015/16 onwards, particularly from mid-2015 onwards, his decisions started to be taken" he said finally.
