Honda is not experiencing its best moment in MotoGP and goes into the Spanish Grand Prix with a thousand difficulties, after the Austin round which saw only Luca Marini reach the finish line in both races held. Even though the RC213Vs are always at the rear of the group, the spirit of the Pesaro driver continues to be high and in Jerez he also finds the time and way to joke.
“I always leave feeling energetic, until Thursday I'm feeling great!”, quips Marini in the usual meeting with the media on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix. “From Friday, if you see yourself down there at the bottom, my competitive part starts to say that it would be better to be higher up. But I know perfectly well that there are steps to take and then I am sure that if we continue to stay united and work well together, we will get where we want sooner”, continues the HRC standard bearer, who feels confident despite the results not giving justice to the work in the pits.
Even if the situation is not the most rosy, Marini continues to profess calm, an attitude that he believes can help both him and the team to take the steps forward that Honda have set themselves for more quickly: “We just need to remain calm, serene and happy. I'm having fun, I like going for tests because then I have time to ride the bike and understand it even better”, he continues talking about the great work he is doing even outside of the race weekends.
Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Honda, taking advantage of the concessions, has full freedom to test with both testers and owners and the test drivers have the opportunity to compete for several wild cards during the season. The winged manufacturer takes advantage of this with Stefan Bradl, who this weekend is on track for his first appearance of the year as a wild card: “I don't know exactly what Stefan will do, but I know that he will do this wild card to try and develop new things not only in testing, but also together with the other riders. He will see if by analyzing and cross-referencing all the data there will be something better, it will certainly be so.”
Bradl's presence in Jerez is essential not only to speed up development but also to work at full speed in Monday's tests. The Spanish Grand Prix will in fact be a crucial moment, despite being at the beginning of the season, because we will begin to see the first innovations on the track and Honda promises several.
“We are all fairly aligned, this speeds up the process,” explains Marini speaking of the comparison he has with his garage partner and with the other members of the Honda lineup. “The important thing, which I've noticed makes the difference, is that it's not just about explaining your feelings, but trying to go into detail. When you explain things well to the Japanese, in the most precise way possible, the more detailed you are, the more they can understand and bring you something that helps you and makes you feel the difference.”
Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Already during the winter Marini had appreciated the way the Japanese work and, on the eve of the fourth weekend of the season, he confirms his thoughts: “In my opinion it's not a question of slowness, but of precision. They have very high quality standards and I really like this thing, so they first have to be 100% sure that it works.”
“The response time was excellent, because after only three races we have a completely new bike. Everything on the bike is new for Monday's test, but they still brought new things throughout the first three races. It must also be a question of safety and they are pro-riders, they must be sure that everything works properly and that the bike does not break”, concludes the HRC representative.
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