After having followed with the greatest attention the journey of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team during this first half-season, in particular with the daily debriefings of Johann Zarco (see here), and taking stock with Hervé Poncharal almost after each race (see here), it was inconceivable not to take stock of it with the latter at this midpoint of the season.
However, in order not to repeat too much things that have already been reported on our site, we have tried to take a step back and address subjects not previously mentioned.
We therefore hope that Monster signs quickly because it must not be easy to find a partner of this size…
“It is not simple, but there is one thing that is certain, and that is that we must give thanks to Dorna, because it is still Dorna who is the conductor and who takes the decisions, with the IRTA, the FIM, the manufacturers, but it was Dorna which sometimes fought against the ideas of the manufacturers, which had to convince the FIM and the teams to go where we were going. Thanks to Dorna, our situation is better. Carmelo Ezpeleta told me again on the grid of the German Grand Prix: “you remember how we were mistreated and how we were made fun of when we arrived, at the beginning, with the CRTs and the Open motorcycles. Everyone made fun of us”. At the time, even some great pilots said " but what are you doing ? It's no longer the world championship with engines developed in the series! ». But thanks to the fact that Dorna didn't give up, that everyone joined in, and that we knew where we wanted to go but that we had to go through it, we managed to make a grid that held up. We see Avintia, Aspar, Pramac, LCR and Tech3 which work and which have less difficulty existing, because, precisely, we are more efficient. And that’s thanks to these technical regulations. And in the end, thanks to Dorna. »
It's true that today, the field is performing better than a few years ago and, on many points, MotoGP has nothing to be ashamed of compared to F1...
“Once again, there is no pretension in what I am going to tell you, and you must always have a humble approach, at least that is my way of being: always showing humility, without you might as well deny your strengths, but never think that that's it, we've arrived. Never ! But today, even if it is incomparable and the automobile industry will always be at a level that the motorcycle industry will never reach, despite everything today the grid as a whole is certainly healthier financially. . There are many contacts between the new owners of Formula 1 and Carmelo Ezpeleta to discuss, in particular in a much more open way regarding the calendars, but also for questions like “how do you ensure that your private teams can be as efficient and, in quotes, as financially fit as that? ». Which is not the case in F1.
We are not competitors with F1, we are complementary, so there is no question of saying that we are stronger than them. But everything that has brought us to where we are today is of interest to certain other championships and in particular Formula 1. That's obvious. »
This little debriefing that we are doing, have you done it with Johann?
“No, because I'm not going to talk to Johann about where we are technically speaking, or the negotiations we've had with the MSMA. I'm not going to talk to him about our negotiations either because the pilots don't really care. Somehow, it doesn't concern them. But on the other hand, you know, I really like this person, Johann. I love it ! Because he's someone different and I find that difference to be really interesting. So I took the liberty of telling him that he had brought a lot to the Tech3 team. In terms of regaining a certain self-esteem, a certain pride, giving ourselves back feelings and joys that are intense, like fighting for a front row, a pole or a podium. And that, even if the mechanics are professionals and therefore do their job whatever our results, it's something that Johann gave to the team and that I can feel when comparing with previous years. Even if he can't imagine it, he gave them pride, happiness and the desire to roll up their sleeves like never before.
That, I told him. Of course. And I also told him that he also gave us visibility which helps us on a business level. It's nothing official, it's more casual conversations, but I said thank you. Afterwards, as he is a fairly modest person, a bit like me, he doesn't really like it. I don't like being told " well done ". I am happy when we have done our job as best as possible and it shows through a tangible result, but not when I am told “you are strong, you are beautiful”. I saw articles where people said that I was a “incredible talent scout”. This is not true. I'm a guy like any other, and sometimes it's a good idea, and sometimes I screw up. That's all.
So yes, I talk about all this with Johann, but I always try to do it to say thank you, but without him feeling invested with a mission, without it putting too much pressure on him and him wanting to so still do more. You understand what I mean, because, in the end, you have to leave it like in the novel that I loved, " The Unbearable Lightness of Being " by Milan Kundera. I loved the book, I loved the movie and I love this sentence. We must leave this lightness to the pilots. We should not tell them that if they perform well, this will trigger contracts that will allow us to continue to exist, etc. And conversely, if they don't perform well, Tech3 will die, etc. Never !
The balance is there. I say “thank you, it’s fabulous, you give us great moments” but I also don't want to make him believe he has a mission and that if he underperforms everything collapses. »
Conversely, was there the slightest reproach, for example regarding his premature change of motorbike?
" Never ! Never ! Of course, when I saw him come home, I said to myself “but what is he doing? ». I did not understand. But later, when he explained it to me, I completely understood. He was very humble remembering that he had never ridden in these conditions in MotoGP. He was very strong in Moto2 in these conditions, but there, given what he was crashing, he had a Moto2 rider's reflex and he said to himself that it wasn't going to work. He was obsessed with the fact that any second now he was going to be on the ground. So he came home. But he told me “let’s not forget that it’s my Rookie year, that I’m learning and building my experience in MotoGP”.
Guy and his entire team were 200% behind him. Everyone hugged him because, after all, what we have to remember about Holland is that, One he is on pole, and Two he is leading 11 laps. So if we cringe when a pilot does that…
No, it's part of racing and part of life. Rossi fell three corners from the end at Le Mans, and God knows if he has any experience...
No no no. Honestly, there wasn't the slightest hint of criticism regarding this Dutch Grand Prix. Never. »
So a team totally united behind its two drivers…
“A totally united team, yes, but that didn't stop me, even if I don't like that expression, from pulling up Jonas Folger's straps on Thursday afternoon after the Italian Grand Prix, to make a constructive criticism. Make him understand certain things that, when you are completely immersed in your thing, you don't see. There was also his chief mechanic and his personal manager. Sometimes, with a little hindsight, you see things, and even if I'm not saying that it's because of that that he progressed, even if we are a united team, we shouldn't hesitate to say that we must react when necessary. Laurent Fellon does it very well with Johann Zarco. Life is a constant questioning of everything, and racing even more so. »
A question that no one can answer. Don't thank us! Will this splendid start to the year continue during the second half of the season, or can we think that Yamaha Factory and its colleagues will react?
“I’m not a soothsayer. I always tend to be a little too cautious, but it's true that the first half of the season was fantastic, fabulous, incredible, above our expectations. Even though there were still nine races, from Qatar, where Johann led the race, to the last one where Jonas also led a few laps, we were there. So this is not a flash in the pan or a one-off. Now, it's true that you always tell yourself that a satellite team, in this case Tech3, whose equipment is completely frozen, will be eaten by the factories. We know that at Yamaha they had some disappointments, for example in Catalonia where the two Tech3 riders finished ahead of them, or at the Sachsenring where Jonas was by far the best Yamaha rider ahead of the factories. So it’s obvious that they work a lot. The summer break is obviously not a break for the factory in Japan! So it's obvious that, anyway, new things are going to happen in Brno which should normally go in the right direction. Their equipment is constantly evolving and should normally be more and more efficient. So we'll see. We will see but our drivers will be better. Jonas and Johann, like the other Rookies who are in MotoGP, are those who, by definition, have the most room for improvement. And we see it, race after race, in the way we manage the tires, in the way we manage the qualifying format, etc. But if I react in a Cartesian way, I will tell you that it will be difficult to do as well as in the first 9 races. »
Ahhh, but here we find Hervé Poncharal who told us that he was going to fight for 16th place…
“I said the goal was the Top 10. But already, we're all a little superstitious. So I don't like to say what we're going to do. That could win us over (laughs)! But what's more, it's true that it's not normal to have done what we did in the first part of the season. So is the second part of the season still going to be, in quotes, "not normal", I hope so, I dream of it, but you saw: Dall'Igna keeps saying that the new fairings will arrive, at Suzuki they are working hard to get out of the molasses they are in, at Yamaha we have just talked about it, at Honda they did tests in Brno, etc. etc. etc. So it's not going to be easy! Maybe we caught them cold and now they will be less cold in Brno than they were in Qatar.
But we will fight! Johann and Jonas went on vacation with a very positive spirit, and they are warriors. They will never give up, especially Johann who is an eye-catcher as we saw last year when he was not in a very good position in the championship. The way he came back was impressive. We're going to fight. Is this going to be enough? That's the whole point for spectators, including Paddock-GP readers! »
