New approach, new aerodynamics, same problems: Marc Marquez’s Friday at the Red Bull Ring began with testing of the innovations brought by Honda to try to satisfy their riders and bring the RC213V back to battle among the top positions. But at the end of the two free practice sessions, the Catalan did not go beyond the 18th time and tomorrow he will be forced to go through Q1 in qualifying.
None of the Honda riders directly reached Q2, but in the specific case of the eight-time world champion, Friday was dedicated to adapting to the new aerodynamics: “I can say that it was a very stressful day mentally, above all because I had to stay very focused to adapt my riding style to this new aerodynamics. You can already see from the outside how different it is, then driving it is completely different. It requires a different way of riding, both in the way of tackling the corners and more generally in riding the bike”.
“I adapted to it quite quickly, more than I expected, but certainly the level of performance is similar, the weaknesses are the same, I keep losing time in the same spot and we have to keep working. The driving problem is still the lack of stability, it is difficult to stop the bike on both wheels. Even out of the corners, grip and traction are still poor, even if here the harder casing is even worse for us”, explains Marc, reporting what he heard on the track during the two free practice sessions.
Although the problems have remained, Marquez believes that we can continue to progress and new feedback will come in the next races: “The positive thing is that we are already at a similar or a little better level compared to other aerodynamic components that we had tried. Now we have to study this new way of having a lot of downforce in front, like the others are doing, to see if we can improve little by little. We will then have to verify that the improvement is real at Barcelona and Misano and give the necessary information to the engineers”.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Changing course is not easy either for Honda or for Marquez. Both sides are working so that we can return to the glories of the past, but to do so we must meet each other. This is where Alberto Puig, HRC team manager, comes into play who was seen chatting with Marc in the afternoon: “Alberto is the first to worry about my physical condition, above all. He is very realistic on the level of the project at this moment and in that conversation , he told me ‘you don’t need that much, you’re braking too late’. It seems that on television we saw a bit of the limit, I was going at my best, but it seems that it showed from the outside as well”.
“I thanked him”, continues Marquez, “it’s nice that the team manager makes you think, I tried, but I didn’t exaggerate. He’s right, what will change from being in Q2 to not being there? Sunday’s result won’t change much. This has been the conversation, he has come to warn me to be careful because he is the first to know what situation we are in.”
“Today I practically took a risk at the last start on used tyres, behind Quartararo, before putting on new tyres, and I started taking risks to put myself in a situation. Then, with the two new tyres, for the rest of the day I’m been 18th or more, I didn’t take any risks all day up to that point”.
The approach changes, but the nature of the multiple world champion remains. This morning, Marquez suffered his 16th crash this season, but fortunately it didn’t have any consequences: “It happened out of laziness, if I went long I had to turn to the end of the track, and I wanted to turn quickly to get back on track, the bike slipped in the gravel. It was anecdotal. I tried not to crash, which can dampen confidence. Tomorrow we will have to take risks in Q1, I’m sure we won’t have a good starting position in the race.”
Finally, Marc spends a few words on Pol Espargaro, who was penalized for hindering him. However, the Honda rider understands the difficulties of his former teammate, who has returned after a long injury, and justifies it: “After a long time off the track, it’s normal that you want a lap time. I’m not angry with him, I’m things that can happen”.
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