The Monster Energy Czech Republic Grand Prix ended with Repsol Honda Team’s Alex Marquez scoring a point, this third point-scoring ride in a row, and Stefan Bradl finishing 21st.
It was a tough weekend in Brno for HRC and speaking afterwards, Repsol Honda Team Manager Alberto Puig looked back at the third race of the season and set his goals for the next round, which takes place in Austria this weekend.
What was the strategy for the Brno race?
“The strategy was clearly different for both riders. For Alex, the weekend is a process of learning and trying to be as consistent as possible. He understood that starting from the last row of the grid would not be easy. Alex managed to finish the race and get a point, but he will be working on improving his pace in the next races.
“Stefan has been trying many things during the weekend, he was very busy. It was quite difficult for him to understand what the perfect setup for the race was. He tried his best, but unfortunately, he ran off the track and he lost a lot of time so was not able to battle for a better finish.”
Positive points and negative points after the race?
“It would be a lie to say there are many positives this weekend. We cannot be happy with our results. We just have to accept what it is and wait for better times.”
The view from pit wall during the race?
“The view was not great. Being on the pit wall during a race is a completely different situation when you have riders fighting for top positions or not. At the end of the day we are a team, we are professionals and we support our riders wherever they are. When it’s not a perfect position for them, we look over every second of the lap and into every area to help them improve. Sometimes things are not as you would like them to be, but this is all part of the motorcycle racing game.”
Inside story apart from official comments?
“We will have Stefan with us again this week in Austria. The Red Bull Ring in Austria is a different track. We expect that Alex continues his growth, developing as a rider and making improvements. He needs to understand the bike better and above all the tyres. He is still having some problems with understanding the new tyres which makes things difficult later. With Stefan we will see in the following days if we are testing some new pieces or what type of weekend we will prepare from a technical point of view.”