Arrived in Brno at the Czech Republic Grand Prix 7 points behind the leader of the Moto3 World Championship George Martin, Marco Bezzecchi took back command with three points ahead of the Spaniard, who was withdrawn due to a fracture of his left radius. Florian Chiffoleau, his chief mechanic, and Technical Director of the PruestelGP team, describes this emotional Czech weekend to us here.
Florian, we're going to start with this huge surprise that was the bill on Jorge Martin's wrist on Friday morning (see video below)
Potentially BIG moment in the # Moto3 Championship 😮@ 88jorgemartin is thrown from his Honda and looks in a bit of discomfort 😣#CzechGP pic.twitter.com/jiU1c2fC75
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) August 3
How did you feel about this accident and its consequences?
“It’s an unfortunate thing. It put even more pressure on Marco because he was there to compete in the race as a regular. There were a lot of journalists asking him about it. Unfortunately Martin was not there, and Marco was under more pressure.
“Following that, we had difficulty adjusting the bike because he was less relaxed. His driving was slightly modified as a result of this incident. »
There was a new KTM Moto3 chassis this weekend. What improvements did he make?
“The major improvement concerns corner entry. The feeling from Marco and other KTM riders I spoke with is that when entering a corner, when they release the brakes, the bike turns much better.
“This chassis also allows you to make some mistakes in the race because it is more forgiving. I would say that overall it's an easier bike. It's not directly on the lap time that this is felt. Over the distance of the race, it allows the driver to be a little more relaxed and to conserve a little more energy. »
Marco Bezzecchi ranked only 23rd in the third free session on Saturday morning, 1.2 behind leader Gabriel Rodrigo. For what ?
“We had a complicated weekend to find the right settings, after which we changed our strategy a little in terms of the sessions for the use of the tires. In FP3, we only ran on worn tires in order to try to find a good pace for the race. That was the goal of this session.
“Unfortunately, we were in difficulty and it turned out to be more complicated than we thought in this FP3. But then we found rather positive adjustments for the future. »
Bezzecchi qualified with the 14th time, 1.2 behind his teammate Jakub Kornfeil (at home) who took pole. What happened in the final minutes of the qualifying session?
“This qualification was really weird. During the last run, I wanted to get Marco out of the pits early, but in fact everyone was waiting for Marco to jump in to take his wheel! For my part, I waited a little longer, but it wasn't enough. When I brought Marco out, he was first in the group and everyone followed!
“After that, Marco slowed down to let the group pass, because it bothers him a lot when everyone follows him. As a result, three quarters of the drivers got in trouble, especially in the last sector. I was really surprised because there was really only so much time left.
“Only seven drivers crossed the finish line before the checkered flag. It was really a shame. It's true that I was really disappointed by this qualification because Marco had left early enough to do his fast lap, but as he was hampered by the drivers following him, he preferred to slow down and unfortunately he passed after the Checkered flag.
“I am very happy for Jakub (editor's note: Kornfeil, teammate of Bezzecchi at PruestelGP and pole position). He managed well by starting a few seconds before, and he had a very good rhythm during all the sessions. »
Marco had an improving race: Twelfth at the start of the race, eighth with four laps to go and sixth at the finish line. Are you satisfied?
“I'm quite satisfied because we had a really complicated weekend. To finish sixth with the problems we had, I'm quite happy with that. This is not the case for my driver because he still wanted to make a podium… which I can understand. I like this mentality. For me, it's really important. But 10 points scored is also important because in the race a lot of things can happen. So all the points scored are important. »
How do you envisage the Austrian GP which will take place next weekend, with 3 points ahead of Jorge Martin and 17 over Fabio di Giannantonio?
“I think it’s going to be a less complicated weekend than Brno. The Austrian circuit better suits his driving style, more “stop and go”. He likes the Brno circuit, but it is a track where he has difficulties. Whereas Spielberg is a circuit that suits him more, and where I hope we will be back on the podium. »
Photos © motogp.com / Dorna and PruestelGP RLekl
