When Marc Marquez rode an aggressive maneuver against Joan Mir in the Jerez sprint, Santi Hernandez was furious – His ex-crew chief on the current relationship
The collaboration between Santi Hernandez and Marc Marquez is considered one of the most successful in the history of the motorcycle world championship. In 2011, Hernandez acted as crew chief for the then talented youngster for the first time when he was promoted to the Moto2 class as 125cc World Champion. The first joint world championship title followed in the middle class in 2012
In 2013, they both moved to Honda in MotoGP. It was the beginning of a success story. This was followed by six world championship titles and 59 victories in the premier class. The collaboration came to an end at the end of 2023 when Marquez moved to Gresini-Ducati.
Hernandez currently coaches Joan Mir in the Honda works team. The first major clash between Mir and Marquez on the track took place during the sprint in Jerez. After Marquez crashed while leading, he started a race to catch up.
In the course of this, he caught up with Mir. In the final corner, Marquez began an overtaking maneuver and got on the inside. There was contact, Mir had to right the bike and lost a few positions. Afterwards, he was particularly angry with the race organizers.
Although Marquez was penalized for the manoeuvre, he only lost one position, whereas Mir had lost significantly more ground as a result of the situation. It was not just a clash between two former team-mates.
Hernandez also had to watch as his former rider and still good friend pushed his current rider out of the way. The Spaniard did not like this situation at all.
“I owe it to my club now, as I say, and I will defend it. My club is Honda and my rider is Joan,” Hernandez is quoted as saying by Relevo. “We could have had a good result there, but we lost places due to the contact with Marc.”
At that point, it was the duel for eighth place at the end of the third-to-last lap. “Was I angry? Of course I was angry,” says Hernandez. “Was Marc looking at his result? Yes, I understand that, but it made me angry. “
“These things can happen. I defend my colors.” It is not known whether there was a discussion between Hernandez and Marquez after the sprint in the paddock. Nevertheless, they remain good friends after all these years
Hernandez and Marquez have a friendship
“It’s clear that Marc and I are friends. I say that openly. Even the change doesn’t change our good relationship. We call each other from time to time, but we talk more about personal things as friends and not about work.”
“He’s always been very professional, he’s always said that. He’s now in a different team and working on a different project. We respect each other on a professional level, just as we always have,” says Hernandez, describing the current relationship.
“In our bond, we talk more about our nonsense, what happens in our daily lives. With our family and friends, and not about work.” From a sporting perspective, Hernandez continues to experience a difficult time at Honda
Marquez is back in contention for victories after switching to Gresini-Ducati. One pole position, three second places in sprints and two second places in Grands Prix is his track record in the first five race weekends.
“No, that doesn’t surprise me,” says Hernandez. “I could say that I expected him to take longer, but that would be a lie. It was clear that he would need some time to adapt to a new bike, like any rider.”
“I think he’s been doing everything right since the Valencia test. He is working very well and taking the steps he needs to take. I can see that Marc is more mature now than when he was with me. I don’t know exactly what he does in the pits.”
“But when I watch the races again at home, I see how he manages things. I think he needs a win now. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in it, but when you change the brand, the bike and start a new project, you have to consolidate everything.”
“He needs to win a race to do that. That will also give him more confidence and security,” believes Hernandez. “His goal is to have fun again. We saw that on the podium in Jerez. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Marc so happy after a second place. He is having fun and that was his goal. “
