Dovi promised equal footing with Pedrosa
Added on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Dovi promised equal footing with Pedrosa
Repsol Honda bosses have promised Andrea Dovizioso that he will have equal standing with Dani Pedrosa in next season’s MotoGP championship after claiming that Pedrosa’s manager Alberto Puig will have less of an influence in future.
Honda have continually had to fend-off suggestions that they have been heavily influenced by Puig since Pedrosa’s arrival in 2006, with former rider Nicky Hayden a particular critic of Puig’s influence and the apparent focus placed on Pedrosa.
Hayden left the team after the 2008 season, claiming that he never had the support of the team since his championship win in 2007 and that the Honda was being developed for the benefit of Pedrosa, rather than both riders. In a parting shot at the team, it was reported that Hayden had replaced the HRC decals on his bike for ones depicting “PRC” in reference to Puig at the season finale in Valencia although these were eventually removed.
But HRC vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto has claimed that rider preference will not be an issue next season, with both riders being an important part of Honda’s development programme.
“Dovizioso and Pedrosa will have the same position inside the team,” Nakamoto told Motosprint. “All we think of is to win, and in order to do that we need a better bike.
“We work together with the two riders, both of them, because that’s in everyone’s interest.
“It’s not true that we have worked just for Pedrosa up to now. We have two riders and we use the work and the information from both of them. Andrea, too, is very useful for development work, and he will be more and more so.”
Nakamoto also claimed that the status of Pedrosa’s high-profile manager Alberto Puig with the team would change, with the controversial character having less of an influence in team affairs.
“Puig will stay in the team, but his role will change,” he said. “He will have an organisational role: he will organise Dani’s staff, but he won’t deal with technical issues.
“Puig takes part in meetings, but it’s not up to him to take decisions. Our relationship isn’t so bad: we aren’t friends, but it’s not that bad.”
