Alberto Puig (born 16 January 1967) is a Spanish former Grand Prix solo motorcycle professional road racer who is team manager for the Repsol Honda team in MotoGP.

Alberto Puig
Smiling clean shaven middle aged man wearing a white shirt leaning over a motorcycle to right with other males wearing similar team shirts in background
Puig in the Repsol Honda garage during 2013
NationalitySpanish
Born (1967-01-16) 16 January 1967 (age 57)
Barcelona, Spain
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years19871997
First race1987 250cc Dutch TT
Last race1997 500cc Australian Grand Prix
First win1995 500cc Spanish Grand Prix
Last win1995 500cc Spanish Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda
Championships0
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
125 1 9 0 1 672
Man with curly dark hair wearing colour coordinated race leathers sitting on a blue and white Honda road racing motorcycle
Puig, sitting on his Honda at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix

Motorcycle racing career

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Puig had his best year in 1994, when he finished in fifth place in the 500 cc class.[1] In 1995, Puig became the first Spanish competitor to win his home nation's 500 cc Grand Prix when he won the 1995 Spanish Grand Prix.[2] He then scored two more podium results to place himself in third place in the world championship, before he crashed heavily during practice for the 1995 French Grand Prix and broke his left leg, ending his season prematurely.[3] He returned in 1996 but his injuries hindered his progress and he decided to retire at the end of the 1997 season at the age of 30.[2]

Team manager

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Puig runs the Red Bull MotoGP Academy, designed to find and train promising Grand Prix racers and, he is credited with starting the careers of Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elías.[4] Puig also acted as manager for Pedrosa. He was named as Repsol Honda's team principal for the 2018 season and has continued in that role through the present 2022 season.[5][6]

Despite having only ever won one race, Puig stirred controversy in the sport by diminishing the value of the 2020 season following Marc Marquez's crash in the opening round by stating, "But my opinion, and I know what I am talking about, is that when you win but the champion is not on the track you always have something left inside." "I will set my example: I won a race here in 1995, and I've always wondered if I would have won it if Mick Doohan hadn't fallen."[7] Jack Miller responded that he had "heard two people say now two questions about the validity of the championship, and it's a complete crock".[7]

Motorcycle Grand Prix Results

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Points system from 1969 to 1987:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1988 to 1991:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Points system in 1992:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1993:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points Rank Wins
1987 250cc - - JPN
-
ESP
-
GER
-
NAT
-
AUT
-
YUG
-
NED
20
FRA
11
GBR
-
SWE
-
CZE
-
RSM
-
POR
17
BRA
20
ARG
13
0 - 0
1988 250cc Ducados Honda-Nieto NSR250 JPN
25
USA
NC
ESP
14
EXP
8
NAT
NC
GER
17
AUT
-
NED
-
BEL
-
YUG
-
FRA
-
GBR
-
SWE
NC
CZE
-
BRA
21
10 30th 0
1989 250cc Ducados Yamaha Puig TZ250 JPN
NC
AUS
NC
USA
12
ESP
NC
NAT
16
GER
23
AUT
22
YUG
NC
NED
7
BEL
13
FRA
14
GBR
16
SWE
NC
CZE
16
BRA
NC
18 23rd 0
1990 250cc Ducados Yamaha Puig TZ250 JPN
-
USA
-
ESP
-
NAT
-
GER
-
AUT
NC
YUG
NC
NED
10
BEL
7
FRA
9
GBR
15
SWE
12
CZE
11
HUN
-
AUS
-
32 16th 0
1991 250cc Ducados Yamaha Puig TZ250M JPN
21
AUS
NC
USA
NC
ESP
10
ITA
NC
GER
-
AUT
-
EUR
-
NED
NC
FRA
19
GBR
10
RSM
17
CZE
14
VDM
11
MAL
7
28 16th 0
1992 250cc Ducados DC Sports Aprilia RSV250 JPN
6
AUS
NC
MAL
2
ESP
7
ITA
6
EUR
8
GER
6
NED
4
HUN
3
FRA
6
GBR
NC
BRA
8
RSA
NC
71 6th 0
1993 250cc Ducados Honda-Pons NSR250 AUS
13
MAL
8
JPN
15
ESP
NC
AUT
9
GER
11
NED
9
EUR
3
RSM
10
GBR
NC
CZE
3
ITA
5
USA
4
FIM
4
106 9th 0
1994 500cc Ducados Honda-Pons NSR500 AUS
7
MAL
5
JPN
8
ESP
6
AUT
6
GER
3
NED
4
ITA
4
FRA
4
GBR
7
CZE
5
USA
7
ARG
5
EUR
7
152 5th 0
1995 500cc Fortuna Honda-Pons NSR500 AUS
7
MAL
5
JPN
5
ESP
1
GER
5
ITA
3
NED
3
FRA
-
GBR
-
CZE
-
BRA
-
ARG
-
EUR
-
99 8th 1
1996 500cc Fortuna Honda-Pons NSR500 MAL
7
INA
10
JPN
9
ESP
5
ITA
12
FRA
3
NED
12
GER
11
GBR
11
AUT
13
CZE
12
IMO
12
CAT
7
BRA
10
AUS
-
93 11th 0
1997 500cc MoviStar Honda-Pons NSR500 MAL
7
JPN
8
ESP
NC
ITA
NC
AUT
8
FRA
8
NED
5
IMO
12
GER
10
BRA
14
GBR
NC
CZE
13
CAT
15
INA
14
AUS
15
63 12th 0

[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Alberto Puig". MotoGP.com. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Puig Decides To Call It Quits At 30". New Straits Times. Associated Press. 20 November 1997. p. 41. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Puig Breaks Leg". London: independent.co.uk. 9 July 1995. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  4. ^ Birt, Matthew (2007-10-01). "Alberto Puig proud to have helped Casey Stoner". Motorcyclenews.com. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  5. ^ "Alberto Puig announced as new Honda MotoGP team boss". autosport.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Alberto Puig profile". hondaracingcorporation.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Miller: Claims MotoGP title illegitimate without Marquez are "complete crock"". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
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