During exclusive interviews that Hervé Poncharal gives us at each Grand Prix, the factual is often tinged with emotion, depending on the results.
Johann Zarco's seventh place at the Italian Grand Prix may have disappointed some of you enthusiasts who have already become accustomed to seeing the French driver achieve extraordinary performances.
This is not the case for the boss of the Tech3 team, quite the contrary, and he explains to us why.
Hervé Poncharal : “We are coming out of a long and complicated weekend. As much as at Le Mans, it went a bit like a dream, as much here…pffffff. I'm not just talking about the performances but it's been a long long long weekend. Long, but in the end, we are very satisfied with Johann because I think he is in his place here. We saw that the Ducatis were excessively fast here, that's clear, and there are still three in front of us! Dovi, Petrucci and Bautista who also had a superb race. At the end, as he had a little lead, Johann gave up a little but otherwise he was almost in Márquez's ass. So it wasn't bad and, frankly, we couldn't do better. The six guys in front of us were faster, there's nothing to say. So we are happy.
There was still a decision to go with a soft front. Pfffff….. They need to stop doing stuff like that because…”
Isn't that good for your heart?
“I can tell you that during the race, you are hanging on to each part of each lap to see if it will hold, if it will hold, if it will hold. It held. I heard that Johann said that as he knew he had this tire, at one point he was a little more careful, but he didn't have any particular warning. It was rather he who spared his tire, and in any case, on the last five laps, when Lorenzo passed Iannone and found himself 0,9 seconds behind, Johann gave it a boost and the tire was well tenuous. So it was good and we are happy.
So obviously, there are lots of Italians who came to tell us “ah, not great this weekend”. I tell them “wait guys!” We came second at Le Mans and it was a fabulous weekend. The three Yamahas were in the first three places in practice. Here, it’s another scenario”. We must not forget that as Johann says “I’m a Rookie and there are things I still need to learn.” So sincerely, I'm super happy with the result, we have to continue like this and, you saw, in the championship it pays off. »
In fact, we have just published our graph (see here) where we clearly see that Johann is fighting for second place…
“(Laughs) yes, maybe we won’t get into that! Pedrosa was second after Le Mans, now it's Dovi, and it's true that we are four points behind Márquez and Pedrosa. But beyond that, it shows the strength of the championship this year. We had three more sublime races today, whether in Moto3, Moto2 or MotoGP, because everything is extremely close. We are all so close that anything can happen! In MotoGP as in Moto3, you can finish 12th after having a superb race. It's fabulous for the show, and it's great for the independent teams too, because the French satellite team got a podium at Le Mans with Johann and the Italian satellite team got a podium in Italy with Petrucci. I find it fabulous because, similarly, Petrucci does three regularly, without falling in front. Like Johann at Le Mans if there had not been a crash in front. This highlights the merits of everything we have done with Dorna, IRTA, the manufacturers, all together, and which has brought the championship to have the technical regulations that we have today. . It’s clear that three or four years ago, it was impossible to see that. And even the factories because, Iannone may have stopped at the end of the race because he was ill, but the Suzuki was there! And the Aprilia is starting to be here! Today, apart from KTM which is really brand new, whether it's the drivers, the independent teams, or the factories, it's a great championship. Mega Honda domination at Jerez, mega Yamaha domination at Le Mans and mega Ducati domination at Mugello.
But on the Johann Zarco side, a mission superbly accomplished on a difficult Grand Prix where we saw that the Yamahas, even if they shone in practice, were not particularly comfortable. The king was still, as usual, pushed off the podium, and that means something because he is here very quickly. We hadn't done any testing here, so it wasn't a very easy weekend. I think that we can perhaps still suffer a little, in quotes, in Barcelona because there have been quite a few tests by the competitors there. Finally, if we suffer like here, we'll be fine! On the other hand, from Holland, Austria, Germany, not only will we have more bottlenecks with our two pilots, but we will also be closer, technically speaking, to the leaders. »
Speaking of very open races, a word on Pasini's fabulous race in Moto2?
“Haaa, I was happy for him!” I even praised him in my press release. Frankly, he ignited the crowd but also the paddock! Because he's a guy, he's great. He's a true artist. This is pure Italian passion and there is nothing else that matters. It was great. »
