We manage to have a short conversation with HRC MotoGP riders Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami via an online call before the start of their MotoGP 2021 campaign.
Honda’s MotoGP campaign in 2020 did not go according to plan. With Marc Marquez missing – the Repsol Honda rider was injured in the first race of 2020 and had to sit out the entire season – Honda didn’t score any race wins that year, let alone defend its triple crown. Nonetheless, the other Honda riders, Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda satellite team), surprised everyone with their outstanding performances.
Alex scored two consecutive podiums in his rookie season at Le Mans and Aragon, making him the only Honda rider to step on the podium this year. While Nakagami failed to achieve a podium, he finished the season as the best Honda rider in this year’s championship. Nakagami also achieved a pole position but unfortunately missed the podium or a possible race win (Aragon 2), sometimes due to luck or driver error. But no one can deny that he’s had a more consistent pace this year – it was a clear step up from 2019.
All in all, both Alex and Nakagami surprised us with their performances. With MotoGP 2021 coming up and both riders having more experience, it will be interesting to see if they can improve their results from 2020 onwards.
Before we say goodbye to 2020 and say hello until 2021, we managed to meet Alex and Nakagami at a digital meeting for a quick Q&A session. Here’s what we learned …
2020 was Alex’s first full-time year on a MotoGP machine. And it was on an RC213V that is touted as one of the most physical bikes to ride on the grid. In the recent past, it was only Alex’s bigger brother and seven-time world champion Marc who managed to get the maximum performance out of the RC213V. Other Honda riders recently, including Jorge Lorenzo in 2019 and Dani Pedrosa in 2018, have struggled to meet Marc on the same bike. When Alex was announced as a replacement for Lorenzo after he announced his resignation in 2020, everyone expected the younger Marquez to fight on the bike. And he actually fought.
In the first half of the season, Alex was not a podium contender. In Le Mans, however, Alex achieved his first MotoGP podium, and that in wet and difficult conditions. Alex started the race P18 and finished P2 as he quickly moved over half of the grid. It was a remarkable feat – it showed that the 2019 Moto2 champion deserves the Repsol Honda seat in every way.
Alex says that while he looks a lot smoother than Marc, the data suggests that their driving styles are very similar.
In the next race in Aragon, Alex did even better – he finished second again, but this time the conditions were bone dry. In fact, Alex was so good at Aragon that he almost took Suzuki’s Alex Rins’ victory in the final laps. The most impressive thing was that the younger Marquez looked sleek and controlled the entire time. This is in contrast to his brother’s wild driving style – Marc’s on-the-limit driving is often seen as the only way to drive the RC213V to success.
When we asked Alex about it, he gave a very interesting answer.
On TV it looks like we have very different riding styles and we move the bike – I’m more flexible, he’s more aggressive. But when we compare the data, they look very similar. Not 100% the same, but more or less identical. Maybe because I’m taller it means I move less.
When asked if Alex could have beaten Marc in Aragon, he said:
Marc is the best driver right now and I think Alex [Rins] and I only fought for victory until the last lap because Marc wasn’t there.
For the 2021 season, engine developments are frozen for all teams, which means that all manufacturers will compete with engines with the same specifications as in 2020. We asked Alex about the areas where the bike could be improved during the upcoming winter testing.
I think it will be important for me to understand how to get more power from the extra power from the engine that we had in 2019. On some tracks I couldn’t use that because we lost a bit of acceleration. It’s important to put all of your power on the rear wheel. This will be the main goal. Other than that, I’m pretty happy. I still try to adapt to the bike 100%. It will be interesting to see the 2021 bike as we can’t change a lot due to the development stop, but we can play with the chassis setup and other things.
Nakagami’s 2020 performance was a significant step up from previous years. He finished this year’s championship as Honda’s best driver.
Nakagami, an LCR Honda satellite team rider, used the 2019 spec motorcycle as opposed to Alex’s 2020 RC213V. However, in 2021 he will ride the 2020-21 spec bike. What does he think of the 2020 spec motorcycle? This is what Nakagami had to say:
The first thing I need to understand is the potential of the 2020 bike as the character and braking of the engine are very different [Nakagami tested the 2020-spec bike at Misano tests this year]. We’re going to start with the standard bike and then develop it. We’ll have to improve in a lot of areas, but I think the focus will be on making it a little easier to handle. The 2019 bike was a bit hard physically during corner transitions. But when braking and cornering, the Honda is really strong.
In 2021, Alex will join Nakagami at LCR Honda, while Pol Espargaro will join Repsol Honda alongside Marc Marquez. All four drivers ride the same motorcycle. At the moment it is not certain that Marc will be ready in time for next season as he is currently recovering from the third operation on his injured arm. According to reports, it will take Marc almost 4 to 5 months to fully recover, which could result in missing the upcoming Sepang Tests in February 2021, as well as the first races in 2021.
Also read,
MotoGP 2020 review: in a nutshell
MotoGP 2020: Repsol Honda signs Pol Espargaro, Alex Marquez replaces Crutchlow at LCR, Petronas Yamaha keeps Morbidelli