Multiculturalism, the hallmark of the Repsol Honda team

The world of MotoGP brings together thousands of people of many nationalities united by a single passion: motorcycling. A multicultural character present from the stands to the ‘hospitalities’ and in every box. The case of the Repsol Honda team perfectly reflects the important integration of different backgrounds and cultures, whose integration certainly contributes to creating an open and respectful environment among its members, where the ongoing that learning is guaranteed.

Although most of the 51 people who make up the group are Spanish and Japanese, there are also Italian, German, English, French and Dutch. This situation – which occurs both on Marc Márquez’s team and on Pol Espargaró’s team and with other staff working for both – provides different perspectives that enrich work and coexistence each season. In fact, 90% of people work side by side in perfect harmony in an average of ten years. That’s why team members interact closely throughout the year, even away from the tracks.

But the reality is that where relationships are most reinforcing are within circuits, the result of each being put together, regardless of each person’s background or training. According to a spokesperson for the team, “clans are not formed by origin, we are always together”, although he clarified that “with Covid we need to be more separate, for example in‘ hospitality ’when we eat”. By the way, in catering the dominant type of food is Mediterranean and Japanese, a combination with the approval of the majority.

As for the vehicle language to speak, like almost any international environment, it is English, although in breaks and more informal situations it is common for Europeans to combine it with Spanish and Italian. Logically, fluent Japanese is limited to Japanese representation, although others may dare with a loose word or expression. Perhaps the only disagreement note sometimes between Europeans and Asians is the sense of humor, perhaps because of the difficulty in decoding some jokes or nonsense.

A very cohesive group

Cycling isn’t the only sport that keeps team members together. So, many of them usually run together every Thursday around the circuit, and before the pandemic they also played a soccer game on the same day, a practice they hope to recover soon.

These are hobbies that contribute to the continuous ‘team building’ required by such an international and large group, and also bring together people from different professional fields: mechanics, engineering, communication, ’ hospitality ‘, logistics … In this sense, a key figure is the’ team manager ‘, Alberto Puig, who manages the coordination of all staff and promotes optimal internal cohesion.

A task that is as valuable and complex, considering that each driver has an “exclusive” team consisting of nine professionals (a track engineer, a chief mechanic, an electronic engineer, a telemetry engineer, four mechanics and a suspension). chief). ), whose activities are focused on the repair and to a lesser extent on the maintenance of motorcycles, devoting almost all efforts to improving performance. On the other hand, Marc and Pol share three managers and a large group of HRC engineers and staff who guide their work to support the team as a whole.

Variety of profiles

As we have seen, most of the team has a technical profile, and many of the mechanics and engineers specialize in specific fields (electronics, telemetry …) We should note that the companies Öhlins, Brembo and Michelin provide also personnel to each pilot, to assist with the suspension, brakes and tires respectively. Out of the box, although also performing technical tasks, is the spare parts manager, who maintains complete control over available parts and quickly prepares them in the event of breakdown.

On the other hand, about ten people from different professional fields (journalists, managers, chefs …) manage other duties as needed such as communication, organization, logistics and ‘hospitality’. In addition, the team has staff offering remote support at offices in Saitama (Japan) and at the Repsol Technology Lab, in Móstoles.

And the truth is, even though the riders are familiar faces of the Repsol Honda team, they have a great international and multitasking team behind them that has worked together for years not only to get great results on the tracks, but also to maintain an atmosphere of trust and teamwork.period after season.