Puig agrees with Marc Marquez: ‘We expected more’

The eight-time world champion finished the final official track action of the year in 13th place, warning there was “not a big difference” in performance between the new prototype and this year’s winless machine.

“The lap times with both bikes were very similar,” Marquez said.

“I always expect more, but it was not there. [Now] I expect a bigger step in February at the Malaysia test.

“We need more if we want to fight for a championship.

"With the bike that we received here, we will not fight for a championship.”

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Puig shared Marquez’s blunt assessment, telling the official MotoGP website:

“We found something, but it’s not as we expected. We expected to make more steps, this is true.

“Some things are good, but overall we cannot say that we found what we were looking for, or expecting.”

The test day also marked the Honda debut for ex-Suzuki riders Joan Mir (joining Marquez at Repsol Honda) and season finale winner Alex Rins (LCR).

“Of course they said that the bike is quite different [to the Suzuki]. So now I think it’s not easy, they need more time to understand the bike, and if we can get what we are looking for it will be easier for them,” Puig said.

“The target is to improve overall the whole bike. You cannot say ‘only this or that’. you have to find the balance because the chassis [behaviour] is related to the power, the handling to the aero etc.”

Mir and Rins were 18th and 20th on the Valencia test timesheets.