As soon as Valentino Rossi's unfortunate injury was announced, the Internet was abuzz to find out who could replace him. Given his excellent performances, many of you have imagined, even supported the idea, that Johann Zarco could be the one.
Also, to have a clear and professional idea of the situation, we could only ask the question to Hervé Poncharal, both president of IRTA and employer of Johann Zarco.
Mr. Poncharal, can you explain to us how it happens when a pilot is injured?
Hervé Poncharal : “because in the past there were teams who did not replace their injured driver, and since we still have commitments to the promoter that is Dorna, who himself is committed to having a grid with so many drivers on it, it has been said in the regulations for several seasons that you can do a race without replacing your driver. In this case, we are talking about Misano, so there will probably be no one on Valentino Rossi's bike in Misano, and I think that is very good out of respect for Valentino for his home race. On the other hand, and in any case the regulations allow it, the team must field two motorcycles from Aragon. »
Given the past, we can assume that Movistar Yamaha MotoGP will choose Nakasuga for this…
“I haven't spoken to Lin Jarvis, if only because it's always tricky when the driver is still in hospital, especially when it's Valentino Rossi, especially when he's is his home race and which is very close to his heart. So I haven't talked about it with anyone, but as a general rule, the replacement rider is the official Yamaha rider for the Japanese Superbike championship, who is also a test rider and participates a lot in the development of the M1, so Nakasuga . This is indeed what would seem logical given what has been done in the past. Now, there has been no press release, and I am no one to tell you that it will be him. It's a problem that we talk about from time to time and in MotoGP it is very complicated to have a real driver who performs permanently, as is done in F1, because concretely, since 2010 it has been extremely rare for a driver official does not start a race. In F1, they can financially afford it, but in MotoGP having a successful driver paid to watch the races while waiting for a hypothetical accident to occur, it's almost impossible for a driver to accept that. »
Would there be any interest, for the Yamaha Factory team, in asking Johann Zarco to replace Valentino Rossi? And would there be any interest for you?
“So already, one thing is clear. We are not a team that belongs to Yamaha. We are not a team where Yamaha invests. Tech3 is an independent team. We are very happy to be part of the Yamaha family but the only contract that binds us to the Yamaha factory is the equipment rental contract. Both drivers, Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger, have contracts only with Tech3. We are an independent team, a small SME, and I don't see why we would undress Pierre to dress Jacques. Especially since the problem would be even more important for us: Yamaha Factory has Nakasuga who is a rider both under contract with the factory and is used to the M1. He won't be in front but he still came second in Valencia four or five years ago. For me, if I have to find a driver, they are not going to give me Nakasuga and I will be in a situation where there is almost no one. Even last year, it was complicated to obtain Alex Lowes, compared to his championship and his partners.
Furthermore, when you are in the final stages of negotiations with your partners, when you have two drivers of the level of Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger, and suddenly you are missing one, you are not going to have the same results. nor the same fallout. And it can even very well derail negotiations. I sold Zarco and Folger to my sponsors, and if Zarco and Folger are in good shape, I have to have them on the grid every Sunday. My sponsors would not understand that they pay to have these drivers and that a team sometimes competing with certain partners gets back the drivers for which they paid.
In any case, Yamaha hasn't talked to me about it and I don't think Yamaha will talk to me about it.
Moreover, the drivers' championship is now cooked for Valentino. But they have Maverick Vinales, and even if they took Zarco and Folger, they would score points in Zarco's name or Folger's name. So it wouldn't bring anything to the drivers' championship.
Afterwards, there is the constructors' championship. We must not forget that for the constructors' championship, it is only the first of the brand who scores points. If Maverick Vinales is first, and Johann Zarco is second, Yamaha only scores Vinales' 25 points. For example, in Germany, Yamaha only scored the 20 points scored by Jonas Folger. At Le Mans, Yamaha scored 25 points and Johann Zarco's 20 points did not count. For the manufacturer's title, it is only the manufacturer's first machine that scores points. There would therefore be no interest for Yamaha, unless Johann Zarco or Jonas Folger finished ahead of Maverick Vinales solely thanks to the factory M1.
The only thing for which this could change is the teams championship, which is a championship which is completely unofficial, an internal championship “for fun”. But the two championships which are real championships, which are the subject of prize giving and which are managed under the aegis of the FIM, are the drivers' championship and the manufacturers' championship. The teams championship is managed by IRTA and Dorna, but you receive nothing. Afterwards, the manufacturers can say that they have the triple crown, when they manage to make drivers, manufacturers and teams. but this remains unofficial and does not have the impact of a drivers' or constructors' title. »
