Since Alberto Puig took over as team director of Honda in MotoGP, many things have changed. Dani Pedrosa left at the end of 2018 after 12 years and now it is Marc Márquez who is leaving at the end of the year – following three very complicated seasons without the expected results from the Japanese team.
Criticism of Puig on social media has been numerous, and Efrén Vázquez made a point of defending him. Quoted by the Motosan.es website, the former rider mentioned Pedrosa’s departure:
– Puig has been at Honda for a long time, they have a lot to thank him for. Puig took Dani to the CEV and the World Championship without winning, and Dani more than repaid him. I heard that Puig firing Pedrosa was a shame, they say it was an HRC decision and no one had the courage to do it. Alberto is a very strange person, but not bad, and I’m sure he would have been hurt by Dani and maybe Dani by him, long relationships are like that.
On the other hand, Vázquez believes that even Jorge Lorenzo did not lack support from Puig, despite the difficult season he had at Honda: ‘If Puig had not supported him, Jorge would have said it openly and quickly. The problem with Puig is more with the press than with the riders, and this is a reality‘.
