Round 1710th double podium and winning the team title

[totalmotorcycle]

Round 1710th double podium and winning the team title



After the three successive races held in #Malaysia, #Australia and #Japan, Marc Marquez will arrive in Valencia 13 points ahead of Jorge Lorenzo in the fight for the MotoGP World title. Marc has seen his advantage reduced by 30 points in the last two rounds, how do you see the situation?

Three rounds in a row are always a very demanding time of the season, and this year has been even worse especially because the last two races have been very “strange” with different problems to manage and very peculiar situations. I honestly think that in normal situations Marc would have kept his advantage. Anyway, to go into the final round still with a good margin is very good especially if you keep in mind that Marc is a rookie!

Lorenzo had a perfect race in Motegi and it was maybe the first time that Marquez seemed conservative and was thinking to take very important points for the Championship. Do you think that the tire choice (extra soft for Lorenzo and soft for Marc and Dani) played a part in the race result?

Difficult to say, as for sure the extra soft seems to be perfect for Jorge, but we had no time to properly test it during practice and both Dani and Marc felt more comfortable with the harder rear compound. Jorge had nothing to lose and he took a gamble that paid off. Marc did the best he can do and brought home another podium even if he had only 45 minutes in dry conditions to get used to Motegi on a MotoGP machine. For sure not the best situation for a rookie!

Pedrosa’s third position in Motegi rules him out of the Championship chase but the Repsol Honda Team clinched the 2014 Team Championship. What was the feeling after the race?

Unfortunately Dani had an issue with rear grip and was never able to attack. Again, with only 45 minutes on Sunday morning of dry conditions it was very difficult to get the best set up and check all possible alternatives. Nevertheless we were very proud to have both riders again on the podium and winning the Team Championship is always very good!

With Bautista and Bradl 4th and 5th positions in Motegi, Honda had four riders in the top five. The 2013 Constructor title is another target to achieve in Valencia, isn’t it?

We missed the first spot but… sure, 4 bikes in the top 5 is good! Honestly, with Dani winning the last two races in Motegi our expectations were higher but the weather condition and the very short time on track has played a key part in this weekend. Valencia will be a super exciting weekend, with Riders and Manufacturer Titles still to be awarded… we will do our best until the last lap!