As at every Grand Prix since the start of the season, Hervé Poncharal is kind enough to share with us his vision of the last Grand Prix.
The first part regarding the German Grand Prix is accessible here.
It's even far from being catastrophic because, if we play the "advocate of happiness", Pol is 6th whereas at the start of the season, you told us that you were going to fight for a 12th place...
" Yes. This shows that, one, winter testing should always be taken with a grain of salt. It also shows that the winter testing circuits do not necessarily reflect what will happen afterwards on the 18 circuits of the season. Often the Ducatis are excessively strong on the winter testing circuits; in Sepang and Qatar. They were also a hair's breadth away from winning the race in Qatar. But there are circuits where they have more difficulty, like Jerez, Le Mans, etc. So you have to have a little perspective when analyzing the winter tests, and it's true that the quality of the drivers also comes into play. But on paper, it's true that we were rather, not necessarily 12th or 13th, there I was playing devil's advocate a bit, but after the 4 factories, so around 8th or 9th place. Now we have seen that at Ducati there were a bit of ups and downs in the performances of the machines and the riders... There are riders who are a bit hot who don't finish all the races, and I'm thinking of Iannone. On the other hand, I think Aleix Espargaro has taken a big morale hit from the way Vinales is performing and is outclassing him. Furthermore, the negotiation which took place without him being too involved as second driver and where he learned through the media that he would be de facto out of the picture certainly did not put him in a good psychological state. 'spirit. Pedrosa is also very, very below his teammate in certain races. All this allowed us to finish 5th several times and 4th once in Holland, and therefore 6th overall. It's thanks to regularity, and even if on paper we are a little less well served, with the good management of technical settings by the team we are able to get closer and interfere among the factories. »
Another reason for satisfaction, the finale of the Moto2 race between Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger, two riders to whom you are certainly not insensitive…
" Yes. Honestly, we have already experienced super intense and super strong moments with Bradley, we have had podiums including the one at Phillip Island two years ago was incredible, last year too, with the 6th place at the end of the season, scoring points in all races. Pol also delighted us because not only is he a super attacking pilot but he is also a boy who is passionate about everything, who is adorable and endearing in civilian life. So we had some great moments together with Pol and Bradley. But, having said that, we did 6 seasons with Bradley and 3 with Pol, and it's good to change things. Seeing these two young drivers, Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger, arriving with us next year is super exciting. And you don't set a limit, because you don't know. And when you don't know, the biggest and wildest dreams are possible! We're going to get to know each other and it's always very pleasant to see your rider who comes into the box at the test in Valencia, who looks at his bike, who caresses it with his hands, who does the positions and who says to himself "finally that's it East ! What I always dreamed of has happened.” And it's still at least as pleasant to see them finish their first run and arrive, all systematically, with a huge banana, because they all say “wow!” I was told it was growing, but it's growing even more than I imagined. Electronics are great. And the carbon brakes, what do they slow down? » And run after run, by discussing with their engineer and technicians, they realize all the possibilities there are to manage the performance of this exceptional machine. And that's a moment, the discovery of this material, which is always a beautiful moment and which I can't wait to share with them.
All dreams are possible. They are not going to fight with Marquez, Rossi and Lorenzo in the first race, but it will be interesting. As Johann said, there will be a Rookie championship where there will still be Zarco, Folger, Rins and Lowes. It will be nice, especially since they will be on three different brands; Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprilia.
All this is something we look forward to and, obviously, seeing our two future drivers fight until the last corner for victory at the German Grand Prix is a huge satisfaction. It's a huge satisfaction of course for Johann because there he scored a huge blow on his main opponents who are Lowes and Rins, that's clear. But it is also a huge satisfaction for Jonas because you can imagine that I have been the subject of not always pleasant criticism. I'm not saying that he's going to become the greatest driver, but it's nice, especially for him, to see that he can fight at the front with a very hot finish on the last lap, being clean and without do anything in very difficult conditions. So that made us happy and what was funny was that everyone came to see us saying “Wow, Tech3 did 1 and 2 in Moto2”. And even Lin Jarvis and Nakagima San came, on the grid before the MotoGP race, to congratulate us and tell us “great start to the 2017 season for your MotoGP team”."
Are you able to say, very quickly and without making a mistake, “Johann, Jonas, Johann, Jonas”, etc.?
“(Laughs) Johann, Jonas, Johann, Jonas… No, wait; If we want to be correct, we have to say “Yonas” in German. Yonas, Johann, Yonas, Johann, yes, I can say that. In any case, they are two charming boys, but they are quite different in the way they behave so there won't be many moments where they will be confused.
Johann has been riding without a teammate for a while, since Josh Herrin at Catheram Air Asia, and it will be interesting for him to have a teammate with whom he can possibly discuss, compare, and help each other. And above all it will be interesting for both to have access to all the acquisitions and settings of the official drivers who next year will be Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales. »
