Exclusive Interview Eric de Seynes: Why the Yamaha bLU cRU program is a major step forward for motorcycle sport in general and Superbike in particular (Part 3/3)

Before the French Grand Prix, nWe had the privilege of being able to interview Eric de Seynes, the atypical boss of Yamaha Motor Europe who does not hesitate to swap his suit for leather, in order to take stock of our two French riders in MotoGP, but also on the big effort made by Yamaha for the benefit of the competition through its important program blue cRU.

As always, his lighting is particularly interesting and we thank him greatly for it.

Access the first part (Fabio Quartararo)

Go to part two (Johann Zarco)

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Let's now leave the world of MotoGP to go to Superbike where we see a considerable effort from Yamaha with its program blue cRU : We constantly receive press releases concerning teams blue cRU, pilots blue cRU , internships blue cRU including at Valentino Rossi with Andy Verdoïa, etc.
Can you explain to us what is really behind this label?

Eric de Seynes : “It really responds to a brand desire that is broader than that. This means that in the question, there are 3 things: The first is that Yamaha aims, as a general manufacturer, to participate in promotion and motorcycle sport. So for me, it is very important that we remain actors and that we manage to welcome young riders or riders who are discovering motorcycle sport, and who do not get stupidly trapped, either by more or less honest team managers. , or by motorcycles which are traps. And it’s easy to fall into these traps! »

" SO blue cRU is a way of helping drivers to have access to a package which is competitive at a controlled cost, and with relative well-controlled integrity, since one must always be careful in motorsport, which still makes it possible to identify talents. We do that in motocross with YZ 125s, and we do it at speed. And I consider that it is a commitment of the brand to motorcycle sport as a whole, because access is not easy. We have just announced the opening of a YXZ Cup with SSVs, so we are really trying in the bases of the pyramid of our different sporting disciplines to have this approach of welcoming and supporting young riders and new riders. pilots so that they are not stupidly trapped.

“I had a very positive response, because in fact, I started in France 7 or 8 years ago with Jacques Bolle by relaunching the 125 cup then the R3 cup. Then we launched this label blue cRU at the global level, which has therefore become a legitimate label of support for all these brand formulas that we have developed, in Italy, in Spain, in England, and it is now entirely a European program as were in part of the RDLC Cup during certain years or the Europa Challenge with Kawasaki in the 70s. I therefore remained a faithful person who considers that I have a moral commitment as a brand, and I cannot want to be number 1 in the market in certain countries and not invest to ensure the promotion of motorcycle sport as a whole! So that is blue cRU ».

“And what's interesting is helping our drivers, because now the level is higher. What I hope is therefore that the drivers can acquire data in terms of communication, presentation, understanding of the teams, because today being a driver means being talented on the track, but it is also understand what you have around you, because there are people who invest money and you have to understand that. So it's a complete package, including with the Motoranch of Valentino Rossi and the training that we do there for the drivers, or the course that we are going to organize in France on the ZF Grand Prix circuit where we will have nearly 30 drivers who will be present. So we really try to support that by being as close to the base as possible.”

“Afterwards, it also allows me to have responsibility for talent detection, and I, Andy Verdoïa, he's a boy that I spotted 5 years ago thanks to Christian Sarron who noticed him at Le Castelet where he was riding an 80 and where he was showing off to everyone. Since that day, I have not forgotten him. I met him 2 or 3 times during the federation's press presentations and I was in contact with his parents. And a year ago, I saw his parents dejected because they had lost a lot of money in Spain with weird teams, and I told them  "trust me, we'll try to build something for Andy, and we'll focus on wildcards".
“I then contacted my English, Italian and Portuguese subsidiaries to request wildcards for Andy Verdoïa in the various Superbike races. There were races where this was not possible because it obviously favored national drivers, but I managed to find him 3 wildcards during the season and we made a kind of small deal with YART which still worked. allowed Andy to ride in 3 races of the 300 championship. And each time, he did not fail because if the bike was what it was, it was not a light of the field, he always qualified in the 10 or 15 and always scored points and showed he was there. So from there, I asked that we systematically integrate him into the bLU cRU selection. For the bLU cRU selection, we take the winners of all the Yamaha national trophies, so we have around twenty riders who come, and they spend 3 days doing lap times, receiving training, etc. At the end of these 3 days, it turns out that he was able to be selected to be a bLU cRU driver for the season and was able to join one of our teams, in quotes bLU cRU, which are recurring teams in the 300 championship , who know the bike and who have basic adjustments. So I follow Andy very closely, to really give him the best possible chance and for him to be able to show all his talent and flourish. This is for Andy.”

“Afterwards, I took the approach towards the Dorna which was to tell them that I started from the principle that the Superbike had had its letters of nobility and that we had to give it back its letters of nobility without trying to plagiarize MotoGP. So you shouldn't count on me to develop Factory teams, but you should count on me to help the teams ride Yamaha. My approach was therefore clear and for example, in 600, we had a support team which was the GRT team to go for the title. From the moment the title was obtained with Lucas Mahias, I said  » from now on, we are giving ourselves a year, but we are withdrawing as an official team because we have a package that is perfect and my objective is to be able to serve as many private teams as possible so that they can go for victory with the Yamaha R6 as the best possible choice “ . And it worked rather well since today, we will say that a large part of the top teams trust the R6. And the budget that I put into a Factory team, I did not save it: I put it into allocation so that the private teams could have  » you win, you take! “ . And that seems very logical to me from a sporting point of view, which means that it now allows us to have a certain number of team bikes that we can follow correctly, and that we provide correctly in terms of technical and development information, and who also receive money when they produce results, which is normal. We come to reward performance, and not just one team among others which would be the king's choice! ".

“So we did that in 300, we did that in 600, and in 1000, after the results we achieved last year, we were on the podium, we were now mature enough to be able to offer a competitive package for private teams. This is why the GRT went to 1000. It is a satellite team, but even the Crescent team is for us a reference team without being a Factory team: It is a private team to which we provide motorcycles and we do the development, and today Ten Kate comes to join us and has the same package.”

“I am therefore, in quotes, succeeding in my bet which was to re-inflate the starting grid, because for me in MotoGP I can understand that there are 24 motorcycles on the grid, but I dream of a grid to 36 motorcycles in Superbike! And if there are 18 Yamahas, it will be perfect! So I really try to ensure that we have the best technical and sporting package for the private teams, and that again  » you win, you take! “ . And that’s very good.”

“And the second thing that I really tried to do was I wanted to give credit back to the titles. This is why when Alfonso Coppola won his title the first year, we moved him up to 600. The best bLU cRU driver in 300, we moved him up to 600, and this year, for one of our satellite teams which is the GRT, I I had the plan to take Lucas Mahias and the 2018 world champion, because for me, the manufacturers have to assume that when you are a 600 rider, you have to move up to 1000. I don't see why a Moto2 rider has always a proposal to move to MotoGP, and if we want to give credit to the Superbike sporting hierarchy, we have to do it. And that's why my support team initially had to run Lucas Mahias and Sandro Cortese. It turns out that Lucas preferred to make another choice and that's ultimately how Melandri came to support Sandro Cortese for his first season, and to have an experienced driver next to him. But initially, it was Lucas' bike, and Lucas knew it very well! Afterwards, he had a momentum that took him on another path and I respect him, even if I was a little disappointed because all I tried to do to have this 2nd team was really for him. For me, we made a pact where I committed to him doing another season in 600 but I could then guarantee him a ride in 1000. But I always respect the choice of the rider, whether it is Johann or Lucas , because in the end, they are the ones who go to coal and risk their lives on the motorcycle. So OK, I respect. Now, you also have to look over the duration of your career at the integrity of the choices that brands can offer you and be careful not to burn too many jokers anyway, because it's not that simple.”

“So today, the approach in Supersport is really that and if there are other teams who want Yamahas to ride in Superbikes, we will try to make the effort to be able to deliver them, because I would like to have a championship which is more distinct from MotoGP, and our approach goes beyond those of Ducati or Kawasaki which are more in an approach of pure and hardline Factory teams. We try to stay with a more open approach.”