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This has not been an easy season for Alex Marquez. Moving from the factory Honda team to the LCR team, he was unable to progress as much as he expected after last year's good results. All the HRC riders struggled, but for him it was even more complicated.
He has been talking about it in an interview carried out by his sponsor Estrella Galicia 0.0.
In terms of results, you have certainly been more consistent in 2021. Are you calmer and more serene on the starting grid this year?
"I think in that sense I took a step forward, even though this year we wanted to go to the right and things have gone to the left, and the other way round. Sometimes you have seasons like this, where everything goes the other way around. It's complicated, but these are things that can happen, they are also years in which you learn a lot more and this also makes you appreciate the good results even more ".
Last year you made your MotoGP debut with an official team and this year you raced for an independent team. What advantages and disadvantages did you find in this change?
"I like the pressure and it is true that in a factory team it is greater, but for me the situation has changed little. I am still an HRC rider. When you are with a team for a year you build strong relationships. Then you change and you start from scratch and maybe that's what cost me the most, but from the first moment I felt very welcome and everyone in the team helped me a lot, so I felt little difference, I always felt at home ”.
You scored points in every race you finished, something that you haven't always done in the past, how did you improve your riding consistency?
"The first year is always the most difficult. Then there was the whole Covid situation and the confinement, we didn’t touch the bikes for months and I am a rider who has a hard time starting. This year it was much less difficult for me. I saw from the beginning that the level was much higher. I had to go though a year in which Honda struggled and in which we all suffered. At the end of the year we are going in the right direction, but at the beginning we suffered a lot. I learned from the many situations we had and if the bike had gone well from the start, maybe I wouldn't have learned them. "
At the start of the season you said that you would like to be in the top 8, a goal that you have often achieved every time you finish races. Are you improving at the pace you expected in such a competitive category?
"Yes, it is true that in some races I managed to be in the top 10 or in the top 8, which was our goal, but in others we suffered more than necessary. I think things went worse than I expected and that cost me a lot, but I think things are much clearer. Now, when I arrive at a new track I know how to manage myself much better than last year and I also understand the electronics and other aspects of the bike better. When you come from Moto2, it's like another world. You have many more things to think about and analyze. The team has helped me a lot to understand certain things and to know where to go ".
What were the best moments of the season and why?
"Among the best moments I would say the Silverstone race because I enjoyed it, the return from the summer break because we returned with our batteries recharged and we did very well in the two races in Austria. We had the 'flag to flag' and we suffered in the first part of the race, but after the bike change we didn't stop and we reversed the situation. Also the race in Portimao, which is a very nice circuit and I was able to experience Marc's return very closely. All this made it a very special weekend, not just for me but for the whole family ”.
And as for the most difficult moments, what is the most important thing you have learned on the track this 2021 season?
"You have tough times in every season and you have to get out of it. This has been a season where things have gone wrong a lot of times, but these things happen. Maybe it was more difficult at the beginning of the season because things didn't work, but we analyzed them, talked to HRC and changed some parts of the bike to improve. I think hard times always add up, they make you a better rider and a better person. Hopefully better times will come, we can enjoy them and tell the stories we have had in this 2021 ".
This week it was announced that the team's sporting director, Óscar Haro, will retire, how did you receive this news?
"He wanted to tell us in hospitality, when the whole team was at dinner. I told him: 'now that I come here, you are leaving.' He’s a very important person in the team, not only for the organization but also for the atmosphere, which is very important. I tried to make a bet with him to stay and he doesn't know whether to accept it or not (laughs), so we will try, but his priority is to devote himself to his family and I understand why he made this step".
