Dani Pedrosa relationship with Alberto Puig, Repsol Honda team manager, wasn’t the best, and in 2013 they stopped working together after some conflicts. The Spanish rider continues racing for the factory Honda team in MotoGP, and Puig stayed under the radar for a few years before returning full time to the team recently, and becoming team manager this past season.
In a recent interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, Alberto Puig analyzed the Repsol Honda team results this season, and he couldn’t be happier, since, under his command, the factory Honda riders clinched all three MotoGP titles: rider, team and manufacturer titles.
This season ended the way it did because the Japanese manufacturer has Marc Marquez under contract, and the young Spanish rider seems to know no limits to what he can do on a track. But on a team, there’s more than just one rider. So, what does Alberto Puig think about Dani Pedrosa?
“I was with Dani until 2013. These last few years I don’t really know what happened with him. This year I’ve worked with him and I saw a different Dani than I remembered”, says Puig, without entering into details about what he feels it’s different in Pedrosa, but he then says “To be a MotoGP champion one needs to assume some things, and he didn’t do it. In life, you won’t get anything for free. There’s been others that wanted more to be champions. He still has what it takes to continue racing, because he’s got a lot of talent. With just one hand, and making a small effort, he’s a Top 5 rider. But I don’t care about him a lot now”.
Of course these words got to Dani Pedrosa, who next season will be facing a new challenge in his life, as a test rider for the KTM Factory MotoGP team.
Using his social media accounts, Dani Pedrosa blasted against the man responsible for finding him at a young age, and for taking him to the top in MotoGP
“I’m sorry for his point of view and for his sadness about my results. That’s just curious because he’s changed his opinion of me all of a sudden, from one day to the other. I hope he can overcome that. I’ve given him the best of me, given all I had at every moment. Putting in doubt the will of a rider to become a MotoGP champion isn’t something acceptable for someone that dedicates to this sport. I would’ve thanked him had he shown all these hard feelings against me had he done this in person during the year, instead of doing it now when I’m not on the team anymore. Everything has its moment. In any case, he should leave alone those of us that don’t talk about him”, answered Dani Pedrosa after hearing Alberto Puig’s words.
We recall that Alberto Puig and Dani Pedrosa worked together for over a decade, before ending the partnership in 2013. Now that Pedrosa is ready to start working with KTM Factory on the development of the RC16 prototype – he’s testing the bike this week in Jerez for two days -, a fight against his former team manager is the last thing he needs to be able to focus on the job ahead.
But will Alberto Puig react to Pedrosa’s answer?
We’ll need to wait and see.
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