Scheduled for Friday noon of the Valencia Grand Prix, this conference of representatives of the manufacturers present in MotoGP went completely unnoticed at the time.
However, the comments made there were quite interesting and we frequently find snippets of them, here and there and distorted. So, we decided to roll up our sleeves and embark on its full transcription before, given its length, publishing it in several parts.
Were present Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant (Repsol Honda team Principal), Paolo ciabatti (Ducati MotoGP Project Director), Lynn Jarvis (Yamaha Motor Racing Manager Director), Davide Brivio (Suzuki Team Manager), Roman Albesian (Technical and Sporting Aprilia Racing Manager) and Pete Beirer (KTM Motorsport Director).
In this first part, each of the six manufacturer representatives took stock of the 2017 season, remember, before the Valencia Grand Prix took place. The other parts will concern answers to questions from journalists…
Livio Suppo, Marc Márquez was great this year, as always. Our opinion will undoubtedly depend on tomorrow's race, but can you take stock of this season?
“Of course, talking about the season before it's over is a bit strange, but anyway, so far we're very happy because Marc has won six races and Dani one. Cal has also been on the podium, although only once while more so last year. We have already won the constructors' championship, and of course most of the points were contributed by Marc. Dani, with Dovi, is also the second driver who has made the most podiums this season, with eight units. So I think that even though the start of the season wasn't so easy, our engineers did a good job and the bike wasn't too bad. »
Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati has been on the podium the most times since 2007. What is your feeling about this 2017 season?
“Obviously we are very happy because, as you said, this is the highest number of podiums in 10 years. Winning six races with Andrea Dovizioso is obviously a fantastic achievement for Ducati. On the other hand, as everyone knows, we struggled a little more than expected with Jorge, mainly at the start of the season. But ultimately, after we introduced the new aerodynamic package, he found the feeling with the front end that he was missing and he improved race after race. So, hopefully, he is now ready to fight for the podium, also here in Valencia, and, for next season, we are very hopeful that we can achieve results with both of our drivers. We can also be happy because Danilo Petrucci has been on the podium four times, second twice, third twice. So Ducati is very happy with this season, even though we know that for Sunday it will be a big mountain to climb (laughs) and we would need something special to happen. But to be at the last race still fighting for the championship is already a splendid result. »
Lin Jarvis, it's not usual to be at the last race and not see Yamaha fighting for the championship. It's no secret that it's been a difficult year. How do you feel about this?
“At least we are certain of our result, because we already know that Maverick will be at least third in the championship. It is therefore not, on any level, a disastrous year. We won four races, three with Maverick at the start of the season and one with Vale mid-season. Obviously, this story of winning races at the start of the season with Maverick, but not since, is a bit of a summary of our year. We started the winter tests last year very strong, we started the first races super strong, we won three races out of the first four or five, then we encountered difficulties. Difficulties where we didn't expect them, on tracks where we normally excel. So we had a difficult year from a technical point of view, trying to solve the problems that we stumbled upon, mainly when the grip was low, whether because of the asphalt or the rain. Since then, we have struggled and worked to find grip by changing chassis and to improve. Sometimes we got to a bit of a disastrous situation. Motegi is a good example, with a very, very disappointing result. And just when you think it's really terrible, you go to Phillip Island and you have grip, the sun is shining and everything becomes wonderful because we are able to fight until the end of the race to win the race. So we experienced these situations in polar opposites and it was a tough year. Obviously, we also suffered from the injuries of Valentino who was injured each time before his home Grand Prix. First before Mugello with his motocross accident, then by fracturing his leg before Misano. But he bounced back and so it wasn't a bad year, although obviously we have to do better. We're not in the Top 2, so we have work to do. On the positive side, I would like to comment on Johann Zarco. I think he can be proud to have won the title of best Rookie and the title of best independent driver. And it showed that our basic level was good! And to beat these guys (Livio Suppo and Paolo Ciabatti), we have to improve! »
Davide Brivio, with your two new drivers, 2017 was a kind of training year. How would you summarize it?
“I have to say from a certain point of view it's been quite an interesting season for us because we're in our third season since we came back. Last year was pretty good, probably better than we expected at the beginning, and this year we found ourselves more grounded (laughs). But it was interesting because we learned a lot and we went through some very difficult times. So yes, we changed both our drivers and that probably affected our decisions during the winter. I mean, in terms of technical choices and technical decisions, because while the riders were trying to understand and know the bike, we also asked them to make important choices, and during the season we realized that maybe we weren't heading in the right direction. But at the same time, we spent most of the season improving after that problem, so we learned. We mobilized our strengths to explore different areas where we could improve the bike. Now looking towards next season we will try to put everything together to improve the areas we have been weak this year. And I hope, I don't know but I'll tell you later, I hope we should have a better package next season to allow us to try to avoid mistakes and improve the areas where we think we were weak. The riders also know the bike much better, especially Andrea with a year's experience. Of course, Alex Rins missed half the season with two major injuries, the first in November and the second in April, before Argentina and then again in Austin. And since he came back to Assen, he has improved, improved, improved in every race since Brno, he has always learned a little something for himself. So I hope next year we can put it all together; the riders will have experience with the bike, and the bike should be better. We will see. I would say that this difficult season was an investment for the future (laughs). »
Romano Albesiano, you also had a new driver this year, Sam Lowes. Are you happy with the development of the bike this year?
“Categorically, it has been a positive season from a performance development point of view. We have reached a level that, honestly, we did not expect. OK, one side of the garage was very loud, and the other side of the garage was not. We had fantastic performances this year from Aleix and unfortunately we didn't get the same from Sam. But from a bike development point of view we are very happy. I think we needed to clarify that the bike can fight with the best bikes. We also learned a lot this year; we were strong in the second parts of the race from the start of the year but we struggled a lot during the first part, so we learned how to operate the bike also at the start of the race. We feel that we are quite ready from a technical point of view. We still need to be more consistent and make fewer mistakes on our side, and the drivers also need to be more consistent. If you look at the number of points we scored in the standings, we should be depressed, but if you look the other way, we must be very happy. This is how we feel: very happy and very positive for the next season. »
Pit Beirer, have the results obtained this year exceeded your expectations?
“First of all, I would like to thank Dorna and all the colleagues here for welcoming us warmly to the paddock for our first season. It has really been fantastic and we are proud to be part of this first class competition which is the best competition in the world. On the other hand, yes, the season has been fantastic, but difficult for us. We have immense respect and before arriving we prepared as best as possible but you can't prepare for your first season in MotoGP. So we had to learn every day and every hour in this paddock. But yes, I think things went well and better than we expected. We started very far back on the grid in Qatar, it was dark, it was raining a little, we were on the last row and we couldn't see the starting line... Then, we made a second row a few years ago weeks, so it's definitely been a fantastic development. We are very happy and our team did a fantastic job. I have to thank all the drivers on our team for putting in a lot of effort. Yes, we are happy, and we feel that we are very proud to be in this paddock, as I said at the beginning, to be part of this first-class motorcycle show. »
