On July 14, the negotiations were finally successful and the agreement between Johann Zarco and Hervé Poncharal was therefore signed.
Exclusively, here are the very first reactions from the boss of Tech3 who hides neither his joy nor his excitement at the idea of the coming season….
Hervé Poncharal, are you happy with this outcome of the negotiations?
“I can tell you, being completely honest, that “yes”, I am extremely happy!
For many years now, many seasons, we have been following the young Johann Zarco who began to stutter in the MotoGP Rookies Cup, and we follow him with interest because, from his first laps, we have seeing as he was someone very talented and not ordinary.
I also remember an interview we did with Bruno Gillet for Moto Journal in Estoril. It amazed me because they were in a very small camper van, there was Laurent Fellon with Johann Zarco who was still very little, and they showed us how they worked; it was the first interview with a major media outlet in the specialized press. Johann had a little notebook like schoolchildren where he wrote down all the circuits, where he drew the turns, where he made the trajectories, with little annotations next to them, all of this written in a still childish handwriting. It was touching, touching in its involvement, touching in its ability to try to understand and to question oneself and to progress.
We saw from his first laps in the Rookies Cup that he was very talented, and also very different from the other boys we have the opportunity to meet when they start out in motorcycle sport.
Since then, we have followed him. His victory at the Rookies Cup. His superb career, with a place as world vice-champion in 125 and his move to Moto2. He was immediately into it. And then this 2015 season where he was imperial, magnificent. Magnificent intelligence, speed, ability to analyze his race over the laps with strategies where he did not let himself be carried away by his enthusiasm and his passion, as some drivers can do, and of course, we said to ourselves that 'one day we would be able to collaborate. We know that he has a very strong relationship with his coach-friend-mentor Laurent Fellon, and given that he is at Ajo, we wondered if one day he would move to MotoGP and with what structure it would be. And then after relatively short and very open negotiations, we decided to commit together for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. More precisely, there is an option for 2018. I think that the desire and the idea, for all the world is to make 2017 and 2018.
I am sincerely happy that this is happening now, because obviously, and even I in certain declarations, we are all with this kind of obsession with youthism in our heads, in all sports, whether in cycling, in motorcycles, in cars, in swimming. It's something that is more and more commonplace and which is not stupid, which is not stupid: when we see what Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales have done, it is not stupid.
I think Johann is different, and therefore he is a different individual and driver from the others. There is no universal recipe and his, which he applied with Laurent Fellon, works for himself, and today, he is ready! He's ready for MotoGP!
I think there are a lot of people who didn't understand why last year, having won the title in Moto2, he didn't want to move to MotoGP. Ultimately, looking back, I think it was a good decision. Because he learned again, he progressed again during this year in 2016. He will, I hope, obtain the crown at the end of the season, which will make him go down in history as the first driver to win two titles Moto2 in a row.
He is ready and I was able to chat with him: he is sure of himself, without being pretentious. He is sure that this is the time to do it, he is mature in his head and in his analysis of many parameters. He knows what he wants to do, and how he wants to do it. He knows he doesn't want to skip ahead, which a young driver can sometimes do.
The latest winner in MotoGP, Jack Miller, and God knows I adore him, could have completely burned his wings by being a little too optimistic, a little too “hot”.
Johann has this pilot side that is still excessively fast, aggressive and at the top of his speed, but he also has this experience which will allow him to analyze, digest, understand MotoGP, perhaps better than a young pilot can do. . Doing it now really makes sense: I think he has matured as a man too. I talked with him, I talked with Laurent Fellon, and I found them good, I found that they had evolved a lot.
Honestly, they immediately asked me to work with Guy Coulon, which I found completely logical and normal, so I told them there was no problem. You should never say anything before it starts, but in any case I have a great feeling and I am obviously very excited, as we always are when a new adventure is about to begin.
So we are all very excited to see how things will go in Valencia after the last GP of the season. And even more so at Sepang in February, because that's the real start. On this circuit, after the winter break, it's going to be interesting to see how it goes, but in any case, I don't know why, I believe in it wholeheartedly!
I think we have a lot of strengths in our game. With Guy Coulon, my brother Jérôme Poncharal who is in this team, all the people who are there, who are not beginners, who have this slightly French touch. French without mentioning Chauvinism, who will obviously speak the same language as Johann, which is always easier to convey messages.
They have similar attitudes, desires, ways of working, ways of being discreet, of not being ostentatious, of not being in the bling-bling, of working a lot and without necessarily seeking the limelight. .
It excites me, I like it, and I would like to thank Johann and Laurent for trusting us. I hope we live up to their talent and confidence.
There is something that I really like. Obviously, we are not insensitive to the fact that he is French, even if I have always said that we are an international team, and it is true that we are an international team, it is true that our partners, apart from the Motul company, most are partners who are not Franco-French companies.
But that being said, I read what is said on the sites, the reactions of Internet users, and I see at the GPs all the French spectators who make the trip, who jump on us “so, so, are you going to sign Johann?” ». So I am aware that there is a wait and that there will be an even stronger fervor that will accompany us. He is by far the best French driver today in the world speed championship; we are the only team present in the MotoGP category as a French team. We see what it looks like when we have just finished the Euro: we saw the fervor of the Blues supporters. We saw when it was the Blues of the previous generation: that didn't go very well, and there was no support from the public. There, there is incredible support for this new Zarco-Tech3 team, and I think that we can write a beautiful page in the history of sport, a beautiful page in the history of French sport in the premier category.
Until now, it must be admitted, we have had a victory for Christian Sarron at Hockenheim in somewhat unusual conditions but a victory for Christian Sarron at Hockenheim. There was a victory for Régis Laconi in the 500 in Valencia, also in somewhat unusual weather conditions, like those of Jack Miller in Assen, but, even if we had drivers who had completed full seasons, like Jean- Philippe Ruggia, Sylvain Guintoli, Dominique Sarron, Christian Sarron, Régis Laconi or Olivier Jacque, we must recognize while being ultra-respectful towards all the people whose names I have just mentioned, that it has always been a little bit of a semi- failure, the French drivers in the Queen category.
Why not try to reverse this trend, to try to put an end to this “curse” of the French driver in the Queen category, with Johann? We have the will and he, I can tell all the readers of Paddock-GP.com, he believes in it!
He doesn't believe it in a boastful way, saying like many pilots "I'm going to eat them all", no. But he is not afraid and he has no doubts.
So maybe it won't work as we hope, and like him he hopes, but in any case, today, he believes in it and we, alongside him, believe in it too!
If you don't have that, you're not doing anything great. But just because you have it doesn't mean you're going to do it. It’s the story of all the winners who were players…”
The fact that Johan is what we call "a Good Man", with his strong personality as he recently showed at a press conference, but also his total immersion in the race, as shown by the fact that he sleeps in the paddock, a point in common with Guy Coulon, is that a plus for you?
“That he sleeps in the paddock is his choice: it proves that he feels good in this environment, that he likes this environment. Once again, I was talking to you earlier about Bling-Bling and other: he doesn't need that, he doesn't have the desire like some pilots may have, and I respect them too, to go out to take my mind off things and do something else.
I don't think you can say that because you sleep in the paddock, you are going to succeed or not succeed. It's true that this is one more point in common between Johann Zarco and Tech 3, because we are paddock people. I like the paddock, in the evening I dine in the paddock, when I can I bring my Motorhome to sleep in the paddock. I feel good in the paddock and when we come to a GP, I don't necessarily want to go visit, whatever city is closest, and go party with the people The evening. No, no, I'm immersed. And he works the same way. »
He has always been in small structures, he has always been a sole pilot. Is it a request that he has, explained or not, and to which you respond by associating him with Guy Coulon by recreating a sort of professional family around him?
“Yes, but you know, a team of 2 drivers is somewhere in relation to the structure, the organization, the trucks, the travel, the management. It's a team, but in reality of work, they are two autonomous teams. They exchange, they discuss, people are employees of the same company, but they are two autonomous teams. This year, the team of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith are autonomous from each other, and even if Nicolas Goyon and Guy Coulon exchange, in the evening or at lunchtime, despite everything they are two teams. Same with Lorenzo and Rossi, etc.
He will have his team, his cocoon, his entourage which will be 100% dedicated to him, and the family side, I have always talked about it, it is the family brand of Tech 3. Me, my company is my family . The people I spend the most time with in my life are the people I work with, including on weekends, when we go biking or doing activities together.
So yes, I think he won't be disoriented. We are a large structure on the outside, but we operate like a small family structure, and that is part of our genes: we will not change it. »
It is certain that you, Tech3, have a good image among the French public, it is certain that Johann also has a very good image among the French public. Added up, it’s going to make something “crazy”. You have to be aware of it, but perhaps also remind the public that you are a satellite team, certainly the best, but that Johann Zarco is not going to fight for the title, at least in the first year. This adventure is great, but now let's keep our feet on the ground, right?
“It’s having a minimum of realistic foresight. In any case, apart from the Marc Marquez case, but hey it's a case with a capital "C", it is very complicated to imagine that a Rookie, even being in an official structure, could be world champion . Now, it’s true that there are more and more factories. This year, there are 4 factories which are, on paper and in terms of results, more efficient than us. There is the Yamaha factory team, the Honda factory team, the Ducati factory team and even the Suzuki factory team this year.
But that’s true with the drivers we have today. On the other hand, for me, knowing the equipment that Yamaha puts at our disposal, discussing every day with the designers, the managers of the factory which takes care of the M1, the Japanese, well I am absolutely certain that we have one which is really, almost a carbon copy of those of Rossi or Lorenzo. It is also efficient and there are no technically prohibitive things that can prevent us from dreaming of achieving the craziest, best results!
We must first be humble, we must have humility. We don't have to sell ourselves to everyone. I think that all the people who follow and who are real enthusiasts of motorcycle sport, do not expect that Johann, next year at Tech 3 on a satellite Yamaha M1, will win races or even make podiums at the regular one. I don't think anyone expects that. Or we need to wake them up right away!
There were two Satellite drivers on the podium at Assen, there were 3 in the top 4. We will say that these were specific conditions, the big ones fell. But I remain convinced that the equipment at our disposal gives us the possibility of fighting in the Top 5 and being able to make podiums.
Afterwards, the technical team and the driver must be at the level of the best teams and the best drivers such as Rossi, Lorenzo, Marquez, Pedrosa, etc.
Today the engines are the same, they are sealed from the start of the season. We have a limited number, we have unique electronics, we have tires which are distributed by Michelin randomly, so we have the same tires, and we see that clearly session after session. We also have, at Yamaha, the possibility of having access to the entire data acquisitions of Lorenzo and Rossi, so that can help us to understand the day when we are a little groping, and that can also help a young driver, in this case Johann, to understand more quickly and to go astray perhaps less than what could be without having the acquisitions of the two drivers of the factory team.
So yes, it is out of the question to say that we are going to make podiums and that we are going to win races like he is doing today in Moto2, but on the other hand if we all work very, very well and Johann adapts to MotoGP as we think he will adapt, I think he is capable of doing great races. From his first year, he will be an apprentice but for him, his benchmark, the drivers with whom he will compete the most and who will be his points of comparison, will be his Moto2 colleagues; Alex Rins who will be on a factory Suzuki bike, and Sam Lowes who will be on a factory Aprilia. We'll see how it develops. He will obviously compare himself more to Alex Rins, for example, with whom he is fighting for the title and who will have a bike which will be significantly, in performance, similar to ours, since a Suzuki factory or a Yamaha satellite is in my opinion very close. This is what will be interesting to follow, at least at the start of the 2017 season.
Afterwards it is obvious that he is not going, from the first races to challenge Marquez, Rossi, Lorenzo etc...."
Hervé Poncharal, ultimately, it's a poisoned gift that you are giving us, all French enthusiasts, because now we will have to wait months and months before we can start to see that.
“You know that I still have a bit of a bottle in life and you also know that I am a bit of a philosopher in my spare time. So yes, we will have to wait, but patience is a virtue in which I believe enormously.
The ability to control your impulses in this “goofy” world where you want everything before you even want it is very important to me. Instantaneous is good but it shouldn't be just that. My dad, who is no longer in this world and who I think of when talking to you about it, was told to me, my dad told me:
“Hervé, never forget that the best time is when you go up the stairs”.
That means that the best time is when we dream, when we want.
I have never dreamed so much as when thinking about the brochures for my first moped. I was going to ride my moped and go into the sky and be on the clouds. I dreamed about it for hours, days and sleepless nights. And one day I got it, and I was super happy.
We are going to climb these steps quietly, with the flower in the gun and with the banana, telling ourselves that it will do it.
But for now, let's enjoy this dream moment! »
It’s a great lesson, Hervé Poncharal, for which we thank you.
“Yes, we managed to do what we wanted. But now, Johann, let me tell you just one thing:
" it's done. You put it under your pillow and you dream about it when you go to sleep at night. On the other hand, today, you only have one goal, for you and for us: win this second Moto2 title!
And may nothing that was announced this weekend disrupt or hinder your progress.”.
But I trust him, because he's not someone who gets drunk easily.
