“I have a top bike, and we believe that 2022 will be even better”

Last year you were very proud to represent the Repsol Honda team. How do you face this second season?

“I’m looking forward to it. Now I have the experience of knowing what I am going to encounter, and I’m not coming into preseason with those doubts about how it is going to go and what the team will be like. All that is already resolved. Preseasons are very short, unfortunately. We only have five days of testing before the first race, and all that we learnt last year is crucial to start this season knowing that we have the chance to do something positive in Qatar. It is very important not to arrive with the expectation of ‘seeing what will happen.”

You have been training very hard this winter. What have you improved and changed?

“I always try to incorporate new things into my preseason. I have been in the World Championship for more than 15 years and I try to do something new each preseason, to give me something different and make me grow a little more. This year, apart from fitness training, I have also been doing a lot of motocross and flat track, as well as training with the CBR in Portimao and Jerez. I am also trying to ride Super Motard and incorporate as many disciplines as possible, because I think that each one of them can contribute something different and help me when I’m riding the MotoGP bike. That’s what we’re looking for in preseason.”

What helped you the most with learning to ride the bike last year?

“Experience is important. It is clear that experience on a motorcycle is very important in a world as complex and competitive as MotoGP, where all the riders battle for positions and are separated by thousandths of a second. In the middle of the season, when we got the package that worked for us, things improved a lot and we finished the campaign with very good results, fighting for very good positions and being among the Top 5. That is the goal with which we have to start the 2022 season.”

You achieved your best result in a MotoGP race with second place at Misano.

“It is true that I have had few opportunities like the one I have now with Honda. I have a top bike, and we believe that 2022 will be even better in my quest to achieve the dreams that I have been chasing since I came to MotoGP. Last year was a good year at specific moments of the season, but I think that this is not enough. We have to repeat them much more frequently in 2022, and I think that the tools that we are going to have are going to be enough to achieve it.”

2021 was a season with ups and downs, with a difficult start and a tough end at Valencia.

“The beginning was hard. Starting out is not easy with the high level that we have in MotoGP now. Halfway through the season we began to find our feet, and at the end of the year we were really very competitive, with a double podium finish at Misano. On the weekend at Valencia I was very competitive and I think that there I had a clear chance to fight for the win. When you are looking for victory, sometimes there are problems and there are crashes -that is the world of MotoGP. I couldn’t finish the weekend, but I took away the feeling that I could have fought to win the last race of the year, after such a difficult start. It would have been a very good thing for me and for the team.”

How can the new bike help your riding style?

“The bike is very different. We are just starting preseason and we still don’t know how the other factories are going to improve, but our bike is very different and the design is focused on the problems we had last year, which prevented us from being competitive on many circuits -both factory riders and satellite riders. Honda managed to make a motorcycle with what we asked for, fitting our needs. You can see at first glance that the bike is different and I think the potential of the bike is high. We are really looking forward to starting preseason to see where our potential is at, and to start the season in the top positions -which is where we have to be.”

What can you give Honda this year?

“What I have been dreaming of all my career. I hope I can win them the World Championship. It’s why I get up every morning, to continue training and be a better athlete. I don’t think about anything other than winning races, getting pole positions and winning titles for the team I work with and with which I have shared my sporting career, which is Honda. I am willing to do whatever is in my power to achieve it.”

Finally: Who is the man to beat?

“Riders normally say that the rider to beat is always their teammate, but this is the case more than ever for me. Marc is the fastest, he is one of the best riders in history and he is also a clear candidate for the title from the beginning of the season. I think that if the rival to beat is Marc and we are able to do that at some point, it will mean that our level is good and that we can be fighting for the title. That is already a big thing, so it will be necessary to work hard.”