What was the strategy for the Misano race?
After all of practice was run in the sun, it started raining this morning! We knew that the circuit was very slippery because many riders crashed in the Moto3 and Moto2 races. Marc knew how to be fast in the wet because he was fastest in morning warm-up, even though he had a small crash at the end. So with him the strategy was to try to stay with the leading group and attack at the end. Once again he did a perfect job! On the other side it was clear in the warm-up that Dani was struggling in these conditions. The low temperature of the track didn’t allow him to properly warm up the tires and unfortunately it was the same in the race.
Positive points and negative points from the race?
The positive is of course Marc’s great win and the fact that he is now back again on top of the championship, with same points as Dovizioso; with five races to go! It will be an exciting end of the season and Marc is showing great determination and the capability to be fast in all circumstances. The negative is Dani’s result. Last season he won here in Misano, and I am sure that he would have ridden another great race today, if it had been sunny. Unfortunately with these rain tires it was impossible to push more.
The view from pit wall during the race?
Honestly, it was a very long race on the pit wall! We knew it was easy to make a mistake, and in fact many riders crashed, so we were always worried! At the end we were very happy to see Marc attack Danilo [Petrucci], who also rode a great race! And we were also happy to see him get the fastest lap on the last lap!
In the past, Misano has been a difficult circuit for Honda, but now Honda has managed to win three years in a row here and Marquez achieved his fourth victory this year. How did Honda overcome the difficulties?
HRC always work to improve the RCV, trying to keep the plus points and minimize the minus points. The goal is always to have a machine that is competitive at every circuit. Anyway, as always in our sport, the riders are the ones that make a big difference. Last year Dani was unbeatable and this season Marc did an incredible job!
The inside story apart from the official comments?
We were very happy to see Keanu Reeves here and to have the chance to spend some time with him. He has a big passion for our world and he comes to see MotoGP races when he is not busy with his job. His passion for motorcycles is so big that he has created, together with his friend Gard Hollinger, a brand called Arch Motorcycles, that produce very exclusive handcrafted motorcycles.
