Track Report by Alberto Puig [Repsol Honda Team - Team Manager]

The result in Barcelona was worse than expected…

Yes, we were not expecting our two riders to crash. This is not good, there is nothing more to add here.

Are there any positive points?

From a performance point of view, there is not a positive point to be found. All we can say is that HRC and the team are 100% invested in solving these issues and trying to find and create solutions for our riders. If we speak about the crashes themselves, then the positive point is that both riders were unharmed in the falls.

All Honda riders appear to be struggling, Marc is still not 100% fit. Are there any excuses from HRC?

Honda HRC never looks for excuses and nor do their riders. There is a problem, we need to solve it and we are working to fix it.

Is the Monday test after the Catalan GP an opportunity to find solutions?

Yes, certainly. We will test things. We are always hoping and working to find something that can give us a new path, a new direction to explore. Maybe what you are testing is not perfect, but it can give you positive and interesting information and conclusions to continue on with. We will try different components and we will see if they can help us for the future.

The next race is at the Sachsenring, is it a layout that will be better for our riders?

Right now, the priority is to fix the problems. Sachsenring is a track where our riders have always been fast, especially Marc. We all know his speed there. But at this moment, we do not have the prefect circumstances to make a big step between races, from Barcelona to then achieve a great result in Germany. In any case, of course, we will try.

Inside story apart from the official comments?

Finally this weekend we saw people returning to the stands for the first time in 2021, step by step the global situation is coming back closer to normal for everyone. But for us, it won’t be normal until we win again.