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On Friday at Aragon, Luca Marini also confronted himself on his Honda on the difficult conditions of the Spanish asphalt, finishing with the 17th quickest time. The Japanese manufacturer's rider thus drew a positive balance compared to the beginning of the season, emphasizing how in a lack of data and in difficult conditions, the distances from opponents are reduced. A clear demonstration of this was certainly the performance of the Frenchman Zarco, who on the LCR team's Honda managed to grab a ticket into Q2, a result that also positively surprised the Italian rider. The topic then turned to the communication of the Japanese manufacturers; while Yamaha is banking on optimism, cautious secrecy still prevails for Honda.
Yesterday you said Q2 would be impossible, today Zarco performed a miracle.
"He did well - Luca Marini admits with a smile - launching into three fast laps in a row was a strategy that worked, with a bit of luck, Miller crashed and Enea took a yellow flag. You have to take advantage of these opportunities when they arise, so he did well and I'm happy for him. Let's see tomorrow what happens in qualifying. Surely considering that we are on a track where last year there was no lapping and we all don't have so much data, we are not so far away" - continued the VR46 rider looking at the glass half full - "When instead things are easier for everyone we are further away from our opponents."
What is your assessment of your start to the weekend?
"It was a complicated day because the track is very strange. The new asphalt seems like it still needs time to rest, the asphalt is still slick and the tires can't get grip all the time. We couldn't get grip with both tires, we also tried to make the bike turn better, the direction is right but tomorrow we need to take another step forward. Overall it was enough, we are not that far from Q2, we are four tenths from the top ten so it's not bad."
This is not the first time Honda has shown signs of awakening, while the Yamahas... you who see them on the track what's your idea?
"Actually lately I don't see them that often. I was told yesterday that the reaction was there, we are all working, but in my opinion it's more a matter of communication. All the Yamaha managers are quite positive and proactive about the future, while the Honda managers are more confidential about it. Every time when you talk to Alberto Puig he always seems very serious and rigid, but with us riders he is not like that, he is always very open. I think we are working well, the direction is good but it will take some more time. Now we are waiting for the Misano test to see something new, but where we are today compared to where we started is already a step forward."
Nakagami's move to becoming a tester in Japan will act as a direct bridge to the Japanese engineers. Has this perhaps been one of the problems so far?
"I don't think so, it's always a different situation when you work with a Japanese team and Japanese engineers, let's say communication with them is more complicated. If you decide to spend more time communicating with them, have more meetings, more exchange of information, things come out and they tell you. It's just that we are always very focused on the results during the weekend and then we send our feedback. They are very focused on their development work and then it all comes to the circuit. The communication is there, then everyone focuses on their own, I think in Ducati and Aprilia it's the same. It's just that we are the riders and they are the engineers, and sometimes there are things that are not critical that we know. Being able to build bridges though is still a goal for the future because sometimes it's not always easy to connect the team with the factory."
