After winning the Sachsenring, Honda knew Assen would be a different story. Still, Marquez showed in Holland that he was still himself.
“Yes, the Sachsenring is a very suitable track for the Honda and also for Marc Marquez” Alberto Puig – Marc had the chance there and he grabbed it with both hands. Assen has never been an easy track like this in the past and it has been a lot tougher for all Honda HRC riders. We clearly understood it wasn’t going to be easy before we got there. On Friday, Marc’s fall made the weekend even more complicated. I think without this fall he would have fought for the podium because he would not have lost his confidence. “
Marquez complained heavily about the electronics on Friday, but praised the fast response from Honda HRC after Saturday’s Q1 …
“Honda and the whole team have tried to react and overcome this problem, but it is not enough. Now it’s time to rest and prepare well for the second part of the season. Regardless, we saw a great recovery from Marc at the start of the race. He started 20th and made up almost ten positions in just one lap, that was the Marc we know. It shows his commitment and the potential he has We are very happy to see him back in Austria after the break, when he has recovered even further. We also expected a good race from Pol Espargaro, we had high hopes to be honest, but he also had some problems and it was a real shame after his strong weekend. “
It wasn’t the best start to the season for Honda, but now there is a chance to recharge your batteries and return.
“It was’nt easy. Now part of our team will return to Japan and rest for the time being. It is not easy for our Japanese employees to be far away from their families in Europe all the time. We have great respect for their efforts and believe very much in our engineers. We have gathered a lot of good data during all of these races, we know we have our weak spots and in Japan they will investigate, work hard and come back with some very promising ideas. “