During this first day of testing in Valencia, media attention was certainly focused on Jorge Lorenzo's first performance for Ducati, but also, at least with as great interest, on Johann Zarco's first laps on the Yamaha M1 from the Tech3 team.
It was also symptomatic to note the difference in “treatment” of the international press between Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger…
At the end of this day, the French rider is positioned a second and a half from the best provisional reference established by Maverick Vinales on the official Yamaha, and almost equal in time with his new teammate, Jonas Folger.
We collected the first impressions ofHervé Poncharal on this first ride of the double world champion under the black and green colors of the French team.
Hervé Poncharal : “Humanly speaking it was something strong for the whole team and for me, and I think for all the fans and all the people who supported Johann during all these years, to see him finally arrive on a MotoGP. It was funny to me to see that this morning, it was the box where there were the most cameras and people. Usually, it's at Valentino Rossi's and this was ours: I thought for a moment that Valentino Rossi had changed teams (laughs). There was really great fervor and there was great anticipation.
Having said that, and this is not political correctness, we really had a good day. First of all, thanks to the weather which was favorable, but above all, what is interesting is that Johann did 52 laps, that on each outing, he left faster than the last lap of the run which he had just finished. It's very interesting and it's a good method. Each run was therefore faster than the previous one, which is not always the case. It is still too early to draw conclusions, but the fact of finishing a second and a half from the best time, which is itself a very, very good time, since two tenths faster than Lorenzo's best time in the race, it It's really good. Honestly, we didn't try to get the absolute time, because we stopped a good hour from the end since it was starting to fall due to the fresher track, even if Lorenzo and Dovizioso improved afterwards . But that wasn't the point. What is important is that, tonight, Johann is physically and mentally 100%. There will still be a lot to discuss, study and digest, and if we work well, we should leave tomorrow morning with almost the same best time as we did today.
Frankly, a second and a half compared to the number of laps we did is really good. And this is not only my analysis, but also that of Guy Coulon, the whole team, the Japanese, the people who work on the suspensions and at Michelin. Frankly, I'm happy. If there were people who thought we would be in a fight for the Top 5, they are people who don't know the racing world. Today, after 52 laps to find yourself a second and a half behind the people who have been there, for some, more than 15 years, it's very, very good. I think we're largely on good timing, and we're better than I thought we would be, and the good news is that the weather still looks nice for tomorrow. We still have a whole day, so it was important not to do anything stupid today and end up on the roof, as quite a few did, because it's always a step backwards in terms of trust. That didn't happen so we will be able to work a little more intensely tomorrow, because Johann has now partially discovered his bike and his team. And we will work without pressure because we know that we still have the two days in Sepang. This will therefore be 4 full days before the winter break, which allows you to take your time. This evening, we are a happy team and very happy with the work done by the technical team and the driver. »
