This weekend, the Grand Prix of Catalonia is a deadline awaited with interest by the men of the team Tech3 KTM. The Barcelona meeting will indeed have to erase the disappointments experienced two weeks previously at Mugello. An important milestone, because, as the boss points out Hervé Poncharal, the challenge will not only be sporting. But also political…
« Next stop for the MotoGP circus is Barcelona, a circuit which is, in my opinion, quite similar to the one we had in the last race at Mugello » begins the French boss. “ It's a fast route, with long straight lines in the south of Europe. There is also a fairly warm atmosphere. Obviously, this is another very important race, which marks the continuation or almost the end of several negotiations regarding the 2020 season.
“I think we will have all the KTM managers in Barcelona. The Tech3 team is looking forward to showing them progression from the start of the year, a strong race with the major priority of reducing the deficit to the leaders. At Mugello we finished 30 seconds behind the winner, which is a considerable gap and I think our mission will be to reduce this gap ».
The political issues having been explained, here is the sporting side: “ at Mugello, in the race, our best time was 0,8, the fastest time than the one that put us on the grid, which is rather positive. We could see that Pol Espargaró had another great race, finishing in the top 10. So, once again, this is what we have to look at and aim for, Miguel, Hafizh and myself. Hafizh loves this circuit. I would say that Montmeló is his favorite on the calendar, so he has an appointment there. Miguel was very strong in Moto2 last year, so this is a positive sign ».
He finishes : " KTM works day and night to improve the machine. The good news is also that we will have a test on Monday, where we hope to be able to progress in the development of the bike. We were delighted to see Dani Pedrosa riding last week in the Czech Republic and I would now say that the entire Red Bull KTM organization is ready to work. Obviously we are looking forward to being in Montmeló, a beautiful place. We know that it will be difficult and that the main opponents are very fast and that even if we progress, we must act more quickly to join the leading group. I think Miguel and Hafizh will be able to deliver what we all expect ».
