Bradley Smith may have had a very good season in 2015, but he clearly felt concerned by the fairly explicit declarations of Lin Jarvis and Hervé Poncharal towards the owners of the tech3 team; four years is already a long time in what aims to be a Junior MotoGP team!
Suddenly, neither one nor two, the British driver turned to Austria and its orange machines to protect his back, very early in the season.
We collected comments from Hervé Poncharal, his team manager and friend.
Hervé Poncharal, after six years together, seeing Bradley Smith leave for Ktm, what does that mean to you?
Hervé Poncharal: “It's like Cal Crutchlow's time, and I could almost say word for word what I said at the time; yes, it makes us a little pang in the heart, because, yes, there are strong human relationships of friendship that were created during these six years (2 in Moto2 and 4 in MotoGP) with Bradley.
He really evolved on a human level and gave his all, he played the game, he was a real team player, he brought us very good results since the last two Tech3 podiums are He, the first non-factory position, is him, he has always played the game when it comes to media and marketing. He really played the Tech3 game hard, on and off the track. So, yes, it's always a little sad when the adventure ends.
But on the other hand, the fact that our profile is to be a junior team, the fact that we took Bradley, as he himself pointed out to many media, when he was 4, 5, or 6th, I don't know exactly, in 125cc, brought us a lot of mockery. We were made fun of when we took him, because he was considered a needy guy but not talented.
Then in Moto2, in our first season, we were 3rd in the championship after Mugello; he made podiums, the last with the Mistral.
Then, when we brought it to MotoGP, we were flatly told “you are crazy!” There are people much more talented than him and who deserve this place much more.”
Then, when we kept it, we were everyone's laughing stock.
In the end, it's not Lorenzo, but I think we had a very honest journey, and the proof is that today a factory signed him before the first race.
So, it's a little pang in the heart, but it's also a source of pride because, somewhere, our goal is to take young riders who are coming out of Moto2 and to bring them to have a profile and a potential which means that the factories hire them.
We experienced it with Ben Spies, even if he was already a bit of a factory worker, we experienced it with Cal when he signed with Ducati, and God knows we talked a lot throughout the summer to weigh up the for and against, until the moment I told him “go ahead Cal, you're going to have a factory behind you”, and we're seeing it today with Bradley.
And it's the same speech; even if the machine is possibly more efficient at Tech3, its bike will not be fixed, it will be evolving, and the riders also like to be listened to by engineers and to see that what they ask for arrives some time later. They are of course pilots, but they also have engineers and technicians who work in development. And that excites them! Especially Bradley, it’s really something he likes!
So I'm proud and happy for Bradley to have given him this opportunity, and to have brought him to the ultimate stage, that is to say factory rider in MotoGP. »
Isn't there a risk of getting tired if the bike is not competitive?
Hervé Poncharal: “Look at the Aprilia. It is only its third outing and, in terms of top speed, it is on par with our machines. Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do on it, a homogeneity to be found in the bike, but I consider that it is well born.
They discovered the bike a month ago on the track and, visibly, the engine pedals well.
You just have to give them a little time but I think she's born well. Bautista did not finish last in Qatar, he was fighting with Miller and Laverty, ahead of Rabat.
So, when you see where they are, with less resources and with less feedback than the entire Ktm racing department, we can think that with their firepower, the Ktm won't be bad...
There are big experts who are working on it at the technical level, they have very significant resources, because the brand in general works well, they have their partner Red Bull who will be fully behind them, and they have a big program of tests which are very serious.
The big problem in the past was electronics. There, they will have the same as the others, just to adapt it.
They own WP and maybe it can be like Moto2. Today, there is standardization in MotoGP, because everyone rides with Öhlins, but they can do a good job too.
So of course, the bike is not going to win in the first year, but I am convinced that it will be competitive. They are serious people who are on par with Honda in Moto3, who shine at the Dakar despite the HRC, and everything they do, it works. And today, the number 1 program for them is MotoGP; I'm sure it will be a very interesting and very successful new actor! »
