Moto2, Exclusive interview with Florian Chiffoleau (team leader of Marco Bezzecchi): “We hope to progress, but no miracle”

After difficult tests, the young rider of the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 team, three-time Grand Prix winner last year in Moto3, approached his national race at Mugello with relative confidence, in front of his family and friends.

At the end of the first practice session, Marco was 25th in 1'54.470, 1.956 behind. Luca marini. In FP2, he was 26th at 1.719. He fell, declaring that he had no feeling with the bike. Fortunately he was not injured, and found positive aspects of the bike.

Florian, how did this first day go?

“During FP1 we had some interesting things, even if the sensations were not extremely good. We found a feeling a little similar to that of the Barcelona tests, while being relatively far from pole, it's true. Mugello is a demanding and quite long circuit, so it wasn't easy for a first session with a new bike. Marco also had a certain pressure because he was at home in Italy, with people waiting for him.”

“It went relatively well during FP1, and we therefore left confident for FP2. Then the crash happened in the usual conditions, that is to say losing the front when braking due to chattering. And whatever we do at the moment, as soon as he tries to cross a threshold and push a little more, we are faced with this problem of falling.”

On Saturday, Bezzecchi finished free practice 26th, 2 seconds behind. He declared he lacked confidence, and fell again in Q1, in Turn 3. What were the consequences of his fall?

“He completed the first laps of qualifying rather quickly. He then wanted to push a little more, but it didn't forgive. He crashed for a similar reason of losing front end when braking. Unfortunately it hit his confidence because his bike doesn't forgive any mistakes and he ends up on the ground. It’s quite complicated to manage.”

Qualified 25th on the grid, in what state of mind did he approach the GP, at home in Italy?

“During the warmup we tested another direction for the race, something new. We have already tried a lot of things – really a lot, I insist on that – to try to solve our problems. However, we always keep the motivation, whatever happens. We remain positive. We are working hard to improve the bike, and Marco his riding.”

Having seen a rookie like Enea Bastianini who achieves the best time in the warmup, was it encouraging for the beginner drivers in the category?

“Honestly, we don't look at that too much anymore, we stay focused on the KTM riders. The differences are too great between the different manufacturers. In the race, the two KTM officials fought to score a point. We compare ourselves to the KTM group.”

23rd at the finish, but 5th rider of a KTM (the first official KTM finishing 15th), what do you think of Marco's final result?

“We tried to have a constant race because it is during this race that we learn a lot of things. He managed to set some fast laps, including the 22nd fastest time in the race, 1.6 behindAlex Marquez, which is certainly still a little far away.”

“Then he had trouble keeping his front, but when the driver doesn't have confidence in the front it's very complicated for him, knowing that he had already crashed twice before during this weekend.”  

“The final result is disappointing, we cannot hide it, we finish far among the last. Honestly, after crashing twice, he tried several things in the race as well as in an extra practice session, to learn and understand. The first laps were quite fast, then the performance deteriorated quickly. He wanted to finish the race without falling, despite his lack of confidence going forward.”

How does the next GP look in Barcelona?

“We have ideas for Barcelona. We are working with KTM to find solutions, but at the moment it is complicated. The KTMs are all in the same group, but quite far from the expected performance. We hope to progress, but no miracle, in general.”

Video: Meanwhile, in Hospitality Tech 3

Video: Marco's fall in Q1

Video: The start of the Moto2 race:

Photos © Red Bull KTM Tech 3 / Gold and Goose for KTM