The destiny of the Tech3 label in Grand Prix seems destined to train the champions of tomorrow who will then be fought over by other teams. In a few years, Hervé Poncharal thus saw Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow pass by, whom he truly revealed, Andrea Dovizioso, whom he put back on track, Pol Espargaró, who KTM delights in today, while Marcel Schrotter left to meet his compatriots from Intact who are coming to take Xavier Virginie as French team manager. A final departure which hurt the French boss who is now looking at the continuation of the Mistral 610 program...
An evaluation that he will make during what is the last year with the Honda 600 four-cylinder engine. In 2019, the category will move to the three-cylinder 765cc Triumph, a deadline thatHervé Poncharal does not conceal despite his questions about speedweek : " we are already working on this project and we have partners. On that side, everything is fine. But even if we focus on 2019, I see what is happening: Suter almost disappeared, SpeedUp is in the same situation as me and even Kalex has lost teams. The next real big force of tomorrow in Moto2 for me will be KTM ».
Since 2010, the Mistral610 has only won one victory with Yuki Takahashi, in Barcelona. Another podium followed with Xavi Verge in Japan in 2017 and Bradley Smith is the only rider who moved to MotoGP after a period on the French machine: “ I think in 2018 we can do as well as in 2017. We were in the top 8. I hired Bo Bendsneyder who showed promise during the first tests and I hope that Remy Gardner will have the maturity of a Xavi Virgo ».
A last pilot whose departure hurt: “ that Marcel Schrotter is leaving to find his compatriots, I can understand it, but when Xavi Virginie told me that he was leaving us for the same team I was very disappointed. It's a big loss. It was also from there that I started to wonder about the presence of our chassis in Moto2. You find a young talent, you train him and when the first results arrive, when you can have a return on your investment, he leaves you. And you just have to start again. In the end what is the point? And no advanced pilot contacts you to come to your home and that also raises questions. I will decide on the rest of the program during this season even if we are already working on the bike for the Triumph engine. At the moment we are doing everything possible to test the Mistral Triumph in May or June for the first time on the circuit. That’s our goal.”
Tech3 and the intermediate category of Grands Prix, it is also a partnership with Yamaha in 250cc which brought a world title in 2000 with Olivier Jacques. A rapprochement that the physiognomy of Moto2 prohibits although KTM will end up looking for a solid satellite team in MotoGP at a time when the question of the future of Valentino Rossi as team eat of the VR46 label will arise at Yamaha. And we will not forget that KTM has already expressed interest in Johann zarco, current Tech3 pilot…
