After the long and tiring oriental tour, we were able to interview Hervé Poncharal to take stock of this trio of consecutive races which are Japan, Australia and Malaysia.
It is always a rather special time of the season, during which minds and bodies are put to the test by numerous trips, time differences and the alternation of temperatures between the Australian cold and the Malaysian heat. . The tension is also higher there too, because the hectic pace of this tour can quickly take a problem from a small one to a big one, especially since the teams do not have all their usual infrastructure.
Even if they leave with pleasure, returning to Europe is generally a relief for the men of MotoGP, as well as the opportunity to breathe a little bit before leaving for the last event of the season.
It is in this context that Hervé Poncharal, the boss of the Tech3 MotoGP and Moto2 teams, was kind enough to take his time to answer our questions, and we thank him for that.
Hervé, what is your best memory of this oriental triplet?
“In MotoGP, it is obviously the last lap of
Pol Espargaro in qualifying in Australia which puts it on the first line. Because there, with the weather conditions, we had to aim carefully to have the right tires at the right time. It was hot because he set his time on the last lap under the checkered flag, like the others! It was this turn and not any other; you shouldn't have missed it!
It was quite tense, the whole team was glued behind the monitors and followed all the exams; T1, T2, T3, and T4 where you can quickly make a mistake… But no, he did it and it was a really good moment to follow this lap and see him qualify on the first row. Then, finding yourself the next day on the grid with no one in front of your driver is also always a pleasant and fun moment, especially in Australia because when you look ahead, you see the track diving into the ocean. A beautiful moment that the whole team and I thoroughly enjoyed.
The other best moment concerns Xavi Virgin at Sepang. While we were very disappointed with the result of qualifying in Malaysia, since we had set the 4th fastest time in warm up and it gave us even more regret to start 25th on the grid following an incident with Luca Marini (see here), Xavi made a comeback that never stopped! And it's something incredibly gripping, because when you leave 25 and you see your pilot going up, going up, going up... you say to yourself "well, well at one point, it's going to stop" because 'he's going to arrive with the big names and things will calm down.
But there, three or four laps from the end, we saw that we had our two drivers in the Top 10, with red for Virginie and red for Vinales (editor's note: the color of the best sectors and the best times in the race) since the two had the best time in the race that lap, it was fabulous! We're not used to Top 5 finishes in Moto2, and to find ourselves finishing 8th, I think, less than a second behind Marquez, which we would have passed with one more lap, is a great feeling. ! The pressure is released and you are very happy, because what's more, it was in difficult conditions of oily-wet then drying. And not only did Xavi drive like a boss, but Isaac also had a very good race, and after difficult qualifying tests, finding ourselves with our drivers in the Top 10, with the times they set, that's is a strong moment, and I can tell you that we congratulated them at the finish of the race, and that allowed us to leave on the MotoGP grid with a much lighter mind and heart!
And then, obviously and even if it's not my team, a great moment of this triplet is the new world title of
our future MotoGP rider, Johann Zarco !
We weren't very afraid, but we had a little doubt after Australia, when we saw him a little tangled and even being overtaken by Xavi Virginie and finishing 12th. And even if he had gained points from his opponent at the time who was Rins, Lüthi, by winning the race, was getting closer. At that moment, we said to ourselves “F….., after the incredible races he did in Barcelona or in Austria, I remember them, crazy races, after that finding himself possibly passing next to this title, that would be a real shame! And he raised the bar like the great champion that he is, and that was a strong moment, and you can be sure that the entire MotoGP Tech3 team was vibrating while supporting Johann during the Moto2 race!
Winning the title with a superb victory, after a great weekend where he also took pole and winning the race in such an authoritative way, it's also a great moment for us. »
To be continued…
