The big news on the Thursday before the Catalan Grand Prix undoubtedly comes from Honda: after nearly a decade Alberto Puig will step down from his role as team manager to take on an advisory role at HRC. At this point, the door is wide open for Davide Brivio to fill the role vacated by the Spaniard.
The change would have been significant in any context, but when the protagonists are Japanese manufacturers—who tend to be conservative—the upheaval carries greater weight.
So, we had to start here with Luca Marini, who, with his usual openness and foresight, shared his personal take on Alberto Puig before talking about bikes, performance, and the market, and then wrapped up by weighing in on another key issue: the increasingly rare involvement of MotoGP riders in the Safety Commission, and communication with Dorna.
“I had asked Honda to wait at least until after my meeting with the media, so I could get through it without having to answer questions. But yeah, by now you’ve already read it all!” jokes the Italian, before getting into the details. “There are some things I’d rather not say, but I want to make it clear right away that Alberto is truly a great person. It’s been fantastic working with him, and I’m glad he’ll be able to continue working for Honda in the future. I think he has a great personality; he’s truly an old-school guy. He’s someone you enjoy talking to, someone you enjoy dealing with. Maybe from the outside it doesn’t seem that way, because many people have this view of Alberto as a bit… I don’t know, “gruff,” but in reality, first and foremost, he’s a rider. So on many things, he really speaks to you as someone who knows what he’s talking about, as someone who has experienced certain situations firsthand, through his own experience. And that’s a fantastic thing. Plus, he’s someone who speaks to you directly. And in my opinion, there aren’t many people like that in this paddock. So I’m really happy to continue working with him. And as you’ve read, he’ll be staying with Honda in the future—he’s not leaving—so I’m happy for him, because I think he can make a difference in so many ways.”
Is he someone who speaks very directly about the technical situation as well?
“Yes, he’s very aware of the reality of the technical package we have. He knows how to talk to you rider-to-rider to help you get the most you can out of this moment, out of the situation we’re in.”
This change, with the arrival of Davide Brivio, seems like yet another push Honda is making to get ready for next year and really compete.
“Yes, that’s definitely the goal. We’ll see how it goes.”
Little by little, the pieces of the rider market are starting to fall into place; can you give us an update on your situation?
“There are other things that need to be sorted out before my situation is finalized.”
Other boxes that need to be filled?
“No, it’s not about boxes. It’s about other things. But we’re talking now; let’s see how it turns out. Actually, it’s still only May. In my opinion, nothing will be settled until July or August this year.”
You’re one of the few soccer fans in the paddock: do you think introducing a transfer window in MotoGP would be a good idea, or wouldn’t it work here?
“It’s certainly applicable. After all, any agreements you make before the transfer window can fall through at any moment, so it’s doable. But it’s something that’s been talked about a lot in recent years. If it hasn’t been implemented yet, it shows that ultimately there’s no need for it. To me, honestly, it wouldn’t change a thing.”
Did you think Martin would stay with Aprilia in the end?
“I don’t know. In his latest declarations, he’s saying he wants to stay, so I don’t know what will happen.”
Moving on to the track, will you try something out this weekend that you might then carry over to the test, or not?
“No, actually not. We talked about it this morning: we have two or three important things for the test, but it makes sense to try them out because it takes time. During the race weekend, we’re already stretched too thin. The bike, in my opinion, has now reached a base setup that I like. I want to focus on getting the most out of this weekend with what we have, because we won’t have anything that can improve performance all that much anyway. We already have some things from the Jerez test that we still need to refine, so it doesn’t make sense to throw in other things that wouldn’t improve lap times right now.”
But compared to Jerez, do you have something more radical?
“It depends on your point of view, I’d say. I know, it’s an ambiguous answer, but there are some interesting new things. You’ll see.”
Marini: “We’ve been asking for years to resurface the track, but it’s not dangerous”
The first question at the Safety Commission will be about when the track will be resurfaced here in Barcelona?
“Pecco says the same thing every year. But we’ve asked many, many times to resurface this track. That said, it’s not really a safety issue, because ultimately it’s not dangerous. There’s just very little grip, really very little grip. On the other hand, though, it’s not dangerous. It’s simply a characteristic of this asphalt, which doesn’t offer us the best performance. But we can manage it, just as we do with other tracks or other situations. As long as things are safe, we can’t complain too much. It’s just that when there’s little grip, you have less fun on the bike.”
Miller said at Le Mans that the Safety Commission has become almost useless: when he started, everyone used to go, now it’s basically just you, him, and Pecco every week, and almost no one else.
“Yes, the last Safety Commission meeting was pretty heated. But, as you said, in my opinion the Safety Commission is very important for us riders, because it allows us to communicate with Dorna and find solutions to the problems we have. It’s true, though, that everything has improved over the years. Dorna has done a fantastic job, and safety on the tracks in general has improved tremendously. So now there aren’t that many issues to discuss. Maybe when a track is new, there are a lot of things to talk about. But from my point of view, the real problem is that we riders can’t all get on the same page. It’s very difficult for everyone to move in the same direction, with the same ideas, because everyone thinks for themselves. I think that happens a bit in every job, doesn’t it? But it would be fantastic if, in the future, the riders could have better communication and a better relationship with one another. Right now, there’s a lot of respect among everyone, in my opinion, but we need a more open mindset.”
Marini: “In the Safety Commission, there are basically just three of us now”
But maybe it’s impossible for everyone to think the same way. Maybe you could decide by majority vote.
“We’ve talked about it and have even reached a similar conclusion. In fact, if we have to make a decision, those present in the Safety Commission make it together with Dorna. But often these are minor priorities, so to speak. For the important things, at the moment, we need more communication.”
For example, regarding the selection of new circuits…
“We actually talk about that a lot. Every time they present the entire project to us, all their ideas, and there’s transparent communication with the organization. This is fantastic, because we want to be involved and we want to give our feedback. I think our perspective can help MotoGP grow even more.”
Would it help to make attendance at the Safety Commission mandatory for all riders?
“No, I don’t think so. I’ll tell you that in the past there were twenty of us in that room and it was chaos. It’s not a matter of numbers. Maybe we should simply be more united, all together, with a representative who can communicate more with the organization. We’ve tried many times to do this, but so far it hasn’t been possible. We’ll see in the future. But, I repeat, it’s not a problem of how many of us there are: it’s that we need to be more united. There are still riders who maybe don’t want to talk about it or don’t bring it up, partly because there’s no time during the GPs. It’s also hard to stay out of the stress, because MotoGP is really mentally demanding right now. Maybe they just let it go because it’s one less thing on the list of things to think about.”
Who would you like to see as the riders’ representative?
“Right now, it doesn’t matter who it is. It has to start with us,” concluded the #10.