If Guy Coulon was kind enough to share with us his first impressions after the MotoGP test in Valence (see here), then that of Jerez (see here), the technical enthusiast that he is could not remain indifferent to this new category which will complete the Grands Prix 5 times in 2019: the MotoE with electric propulsion…
And then, surprise: from the start, everyone is delighted and the times are sometimes very surprising!
Explanations…
Guy, we saw you interested in electric motorcycles…
Guy Coulon: " Yes ! Yes, it was very interesting.”
At what level ?
“A little bit of everything. Because it's new and you're learning things. I was there because it was at the same time as Moto2, and I watched. There are things to understand, and others to invent. It's nice. Little by little, we learned the tactics of the practice session and the tactics between sessions. Because you have to reload the mess, because there, you can't tell yourself “we leave with 12 liters or 18 liters of gasoline”. No, you have to be there, you have to watch, you have to monitor, you have to find solutions to recharge, and everyone does their own thing because it's not just a matter of connecting the charger to the mains. You have to monitor the temperatures during charging, try to control them and, possibly, lower them. That’s quite nice.”
That's for the electrical part. What does this mean in terms of the cycle part?
“The bike responds very well to the settings, despite the weight. While the chassis is extremely simple, it still responds very well to adjustments. And it runs very fast in the wet.”
Is it from the tires?
“It's the bike and the tires, because it only loses one second per kilometer between dry and wet. So in the wet, it's very, very respectable times. 1'56 in the wet in Jerez, that's not bad at all! We were with the Moto2, so we were able to make direct comparisons: in tight corners, it's 5 kilometers faster than a Moto2, and it's 10 kilometers faster in fast corners! ".
Impressive ! What's the cause ?
“Ah, I have my own idea about that... And the drivers all said that they could probably do a lot better in the wet, but that it was so far outside the framework that they knew, that they didn't dare! They are getting there little by little. Kenny told me: “at the end of the straight, with my usual bike and the usual tires that I have in the rain, even though I have 100 kg less, if I brake in the same place, it's not even in the tank to gravel that they find me! ».
So it’s interesting.”
How do you see the races?
“We may have to think about it before the first corner of the first race, because it could be spectacular. The initial strategy will be the same for everyone, that is to say “you are stopped, and you open wide”. So everyone will start at the same speed, because there is no clutch, there is no clutch control, there is no wheelie and it goes really hard! So everyone will make the same start and everyone will arrive at around the same time at the first corner...”.
Kenny Foray FRA Tech3 E-racing MotoE Test Jerez 2018 (Circuit Jerez) 23-24.11.2018 photo: Lukasz Swiderek
