Since Alberto Puig took over as team director of Honda in MotoGP, a lot has changed. Dani Pedrosa left at the end of 2018 after 12 years and now it’s Marc Márquez who is leaving at the end of the year – following three very complicated seasons and without the expected results from the Japanese team.
Criticism of Puig on social media has been plentiful, and Efrén Vázquez made a point to defend him. Quoted by the site Motosan.es, 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 a decision from HRC and no one had the courage to do it. Alberto is a very strange person, but he’s 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 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 issue with Puig is more about the press than the riders, and this is a reality’.
