Santi Hernandez and Co. move to the other side of the pits to look after Joan Mir in future – Alberto Puig explains what spoke in favor of Luca Marini as second rider
One day before the start of the first winter test for the 2024 MotoGP season, Honda has officially unveiled its second rider. Luca Marini joins from VR46 and has signed a two-year contract. The Italian will ride his first laps on the RC213V in Valencia on Tuesday
“He was the first to approach us when we heard the news about Marc,” explains Honda Team Principal Alberto Puig. “There were not so many options. He had the option of leaving his team. We thought about it.”
“His progress over the past few years has been good. We studied this carefully and decided that he would be a good option due to the circumstances. With his experience with other bikes, he can be good for us.”
“Zarco also has a lot of experience. He is no longer a young rider, but his experience will be crucial for the development of our bike. We have to develop the bike correctly.”
“This is our priority so that we can take a clear step next year. To do this, we are building a new structure, a new organization in the team. Our only goal is to get back to our normal position and fight for victories. “
Personal changes in the racing team
Honda has made a number of personnel changes in recent weeks. At the end of September, it was announced that Technical Director Shinichi Kokubo had been stood down. His position was filled internally by Shin Sato.
There were further changes before the season finale in Valencia. Team coordinator Jose Escamez, Puig’s right-hand man, is moving to the Superbike World Championship and will take over from team manager Leon Camier in the Honda team there
In the MotoGP team, Jordi Castella, a former mechanic in Marc Marquez’s crew, takes over Escamez’s duties. With Javier Ortiz, Marquez is only taking one mechanic from his team with him to Gresini.
However, Honda has made internal swaps. From the test day in Valencia, the rest of the Marquez crew around crew chief Santi Hernandez will move to the other side of the pits and will look after Joan Mir in future. Carlos Linan will be his chief mechanic.
Last season, Giacomo Guidotti was Mir’s crew chief. He moves to the other side of the pits with the other mechanics and will work with Marini. This means that Mir has a Spanish crew chief and Marini an Italian one.
“We are not bringing in people from other teams for Luca,” confirmed the team boss. “Internally, we have made some changes, that’s true.” There are also said to be changes behind the scenes at HRC in Japan, but these are hardly ever made public.
“We are trying to restructure the team from the ground up. That means Japan, but also the team in Europe. We have to change the system,” emphasizes Puig. “To do this, we will probably also have to hire new people in the coming months and years. There is also very good technology in Europe. We are thinking about how we can implement it in our team. “
