Álex Márquez (Cervera, 26 years old) is the spitting image of illusion. His stage at Honda has not been as expected and, with a clear turning point in 2022, he takes the step to start a new stage. Gresini Racing is his new home. With a Ducati already in his hands, the ilerdense attends AS in an event organized by Hawkers, very happy for his first contact with the winning Desmosedici, eager to face a new challenge in MotoGP, very in contact with his team and reviewing a year that, despite Honda’s great revolution, was not enough to get out of the biggest crisis of his story.
– Is winter already getting long?
– No no, this month well (laughs). It gets longer at the end of December or January, but that’s where we start the fitness pre-season, so the weeks go by pretty quickly too. Well, constantly in touch with the team, seeing things. In the end, Valencia was only one day and there are many things pending. Very in contact, seeing and polishing things that you can’t see during the test.
– I imagine that it is a matter of placement on the motorcycle…
– Yes, placement, telemetry too. They are analyzing all this. In the end, in one day you do and you go, but then there is a study to see where they are going.
– What were your feelings on the first lap in Valencia with the Ducati? In front of the press it was clear that he hadn’t enjoyed himself so much for a long time…
– The first batch is something strange. You have been riding the same bike for three years and the position is quite different, it is not yours, but in addition to the sensations, I pay attention to the times. In the end, times are what rule. On the sixth lap he was in 1.31.8 with the rear medium and, with the Honda, those times were already difficult. Being in those times with a motorcycle, in six laps, in something that surprised me. In the afternoon, he needed to put another soft tire to finish off the test and be higher, but he only put one and it didn’t work out for me either. Even so, I stayed three tenths of the time I did with the Honda and without squaring it all off. The sensations were very good.
– Does it generate pressure to have a winning bike?
– In some way it is putting pressure on me, but you have to assume it. In this world, if you run away from her, it’s worse. I am aware that this is the opportunity that I have been looking for for a long time, the one that I looked for within Honda but could not find. Looking for another path sometimes helps, a change of scenery and having a motorcycle that gives you guarantees from race number one. You will not have to be aware of an evolution, of what is going to arrive in Malaysia… It is what you have and, from there, you have to get the most out of it. That means that, many times, in the tests, trying things you get lost. This way you have what you have and getting the most out of it is easier.
“You have to assume the pressure, if you run away from it it’s worse”
– At first glance, the change has been for the better.
– We didn’t have to be clever either. You saw Mir and Rins, who had just won on Sunday, what they suffered throughout the test. Yes, it was a new bike, but when it’s also competitive, you go out and you’re already going fast, but it took them a lot to get there. Until the end of the day they were not put in competitive times. Seeing that, the step is correct. It is clear that Honda will also improve during the winter and in Sepang they will have a much better bike, but I will not look at that. I’ll look at mine and I know the bike is going fast.
– Marc commented in Valencia that Rins and Mir would be a great asset for Honda by not being “so addicted” to the bike and, thus, giving comments that could make Honda wake up.
– Yes, they can give comments, but the thing is that they listen. That has been the big problem for Honda, communication. Not only pilots, but also the technicians and the factory. Many times, as Marc said (Marquez), information is lost. In the end, I don’t think it’s a driver’s problem, but an organization problem. Alberto has said it (puig), Marc… everyone at Honda. It’s getting organized and having all the points in place to score, but that’s their problem, I’m no longer in it. If they are not organized, better (laughs).
– Does the Ducati have weak points?
– Not because I didn’t get the most out of it. Gigi Dall’Igna came, they all came to ask me what there are things that I didn’t like and she told him that he couldn’t be totally honest because he wasn’t getting the most out of it. The day I take it out, I could tell. Yes, it is true that, as is known, it is a very powerful motorcycle that, perhaps, when turning in the middle of the curve it costs a little more, but then it has very strong points. You have to know how to understand it. I think that no bike has a weak point, it has a weaker point, but you have to know how to get the strengths out. That is where you have to finish understanding why I am very addicted to the Honda, but hey, those things that I did with the HRC are also going to help me at this stage. The mix and reinventing yourself is going to be important.
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“Rins and Mir can give comments, another thing is that Honda listens”
– Have there already been disagreements with Marc?
– Secrecy there is and there will be, it is like that. We both want the same thing, which is to win. Piques yes, since summer, I’m not going to cheat (laughs). There has been a bit of a bite and, whether you like it or not, these last few races since I signed up, you keep looking at where Ducati is or the riders. Itches healthy and joking.
– What can be expected from Álex Márquez this year? Bastianini arrived in Qatar, being Gresini’s first year, and won the race.
– Enea (Bastianini) He got a very good point, both on the bike and as a team. I understood when he said that he was sorry to leave Gresini. In one day I saw why: the group, the hospitality… everyone rowing in the same direction, which is the important thing. Objective in terms of position I am not going to put any. In the end, I set myself the goal of enjoying myself, which is when the results come and improve. I know I have to improve quality, which is half a race in MotoGP. There will be a very different format of racing with the sprint, without so much time to work for the race and it will all be a bit of uncertainty, which I think can help me. Enjoying on the bike will be the key to being competitive.
– About the ‘sprint’, KTM said it was crazy.
– It’s madness, but madness is show. If it is to add, that there are more races and that the fans can enjoy more, we are here for that, to give a good show. It’s a bit crazy 42 races ago, but it’s something we’ll eventually get used to. In Superbike they make three. How to face the weekend will change a bit and then it will be very normal.
– Going back to Honda, do you feel that they haven’t been able to get the most out of you?
– The change of the bike was big and, when you assume it, you don’t know how it will turn out either. It can go very well, that from the first race it goes, or very badly. It has gone wrong, but they have taken the risk. The factory, the drivers and the teams. It is true that at many points in the season, or in 2021 when Marc was injured, there was no direction. They were used to always having Marc guide them and losing that head made them stagger. On many occasions, when they have been at a critical moment, sometimes he would go. He was there to help. They didn’t get the benefit they could have gotten from me or I didn’t help them enough but because they didn’t give me anything either. That is where I have felt a little more out of place at Honda. I have never felt in a good position, that they take you into account for things, but above all to add to the project.
“Honda did not take the advantage of me that it could”
– That he reacts in such a big way is positive, but perhaps at Honda it was focused on a single rider.
– It was not so much focused on a pilot. Marc had won races, but they knew the bike had a limit. It has improved compared to 2021, but all the others have too. If you look at the times, all the circuits have improved, but if we have taken half a step, the other brands have taken one and a half. That’s why we were so far away. I think the reaction has been lacking, the improvement during the season. Every time something was tried it went the same or worse. That made the factory lose its way a bit. They were testing, but everything we tested during the season has gotten worse. It is not that Honda has not worked, it is that they have done things that did not work as expected. Improving during the season is what we have lacked.
– A wish for 2023?
– Motivation will never be lacking, when you start the season it is intact, just like the illusion. I don’t ask 2023 for anything. I don’t really like to ask, things are earned and worked on. I come from a very bad situation and you have to know how to turn around. I have the tools to do it and enjoying will make everything come.