Following the presentation of the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 MotoGP team, the two riders Peter Acosta et Augusto Fernandez responded by videoconference to the various questions from the connected journalists, then it was the turn of Nicolas Goyon, team manager of the French team since 2023.
In 2024, his task will not be easy, having to start both Peter Acosta and a new carbon frame, whileAugusto Fernandez has only one year left at the highest level and still needs to work on his explosiveness during qualifying and the start of the race. But the team manager ofHervé Poncharal is fully ready to face this season with calm and experience…
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting.
This year you have a very, very high profile driver on your team and the media is going to go wild for a good part of the year. How do you shield him from all that noise up front, and how do you make sure that he stays on track and doesn't immediately go looking for big results, because obviously the format is not at all beginner-friendly, as you learned last season?
Nicolas Goyon: « Well, you know, he's not the only center of interest on the track. I think number 93 will be one of the main talking points. It is certain that the media will divide in two. You just have to give it a little time. People can't wait to see him on track, but learning MotoGP is a long process that doesn't happen in a few tries. So we all have to take the time to work properly, step by step, to learn and understand all the tools: to be fast on a MotoGP it takes almost a year. You have to learn the electronics, you have to learn all the devices, you have to learn the tires, so it's quite a difficult job, especially with today's MotoGPs. There are so many different areas. As we have seen, aerodynamics is an important subject and you have to learn to play with all these tools. So it takes a lot of time and even if you take fairly competitive rookies, in recent years you have seen that it takes time. So let's give it time, work properly with time, and then we will see what position we can reach. »
After just one day in Valencia, what is the thing that surprised you the most about the bike, that you might not have expected from a beginner?
“Of course, we all saw the footage because it was broadcast live, and we saw that in just one day, at the end of the day, the style, the riding style was already very natural, and it was something surprising. I mean for a beginner, to have that level straight away, to have that style, let's say MotoGP, was something quite surprising after one day. But okay, style is just one thing, the other thing that surprised us is the data verification. We could see that, for example, brake pressure is something completely new for beginners. You have carbon brakes, the way to brake the bike is very different, and so it takes some time to understand. But right after a day, the shape of the curve itself wasn't too bad. And the braking mark, the braking point, was already at a good level. So yes, we clearly said "OK, this is already there, this is already a good point, let's see the next step", but the starting point was already interesting. »
And given all of this, what homework did you give him for the winter holidays? I don't know if he can learn buttons because he said "lots of buttons" and I'm not repeating the words he used about it (laughs)...
“Certainly the whole mechanical part, I mean the parts of the bike itself, can only be learned once you're on the track, it's not like you go and print a paper and say 'OK , that’s it.” No, all of this must be done primarily while riding the motorcycle. The main part that you can develop on your own is of course physical fitness, because MotoGP is quite demanding. So if you start the Sepang tests with a decent physical condition, that's already a good point. And I can tell you that this test is really demanding. This year we're going to have six days here and that's a lot. Last year, for example, we only had five days here. It's only one day less, but it counts. Six days here is really tricky, and yes, after these days we will know a little better what our true potential is and what is the next step to learn. It won't be easy, but that's our goal. »
Augusto is only confirmed for this year, so nothing is official beyond 2024, right?
“Yes, exactly, it will be on the market after this year. “
You love it. It's obvious that KTM, the whole structure, really likes him and he's exceeded expectations this year, but he's also a rider that a lot of people will want. What do you expect from him?
“For sure, we had a good first year. We want to see improvement. I did some statistics and between a beginner year and a second year, you can expect an improvement of around 200%. Let's say he scored 71 points last year and if he improves like the average driver between year 1 and year 2, he could get around 200 points. 200 points won't be easy, there are a lot of fast riders, fast bikes that you have to keep behind you, but that's the goal anyway. As you know most of the riders will be in the market, and yes many people will want the riders, the riders will want the best motorcycles, so from our side we can only try to make this gas motorcycle as fast as possible. So that will be our priority. We're going to try to work as closely as possible with the drivers, and if we all work well, and if the driver is happy, I don't see any reason why he would want to leave this set. »
Technically, how will your bikes be this year? Will they be completely identical to those of KTM?
“Well, since we changed to GASGAS, I mean from the political side inside Pierer Mobility, the goal is really to have the four bikes as close as possible. This was the case last year. Of course, the situation with this carbon frame was a bit tricky. Honestly, they hadn't thought about using this chassis, they used it for testing. They used it on Pedrosa's bike for the wildcard, if I remember correctly at Misano, and he was very good, then we had the test after Misano and the riders tested him, and he was so good that they decided to use it. But nothing was ready at the factory. There was no plan to use this chassis for the end of the season. So it was a bit tricky, even inside the KTM factory. We had to react to this new situation and press the production button, which is not so easy. In this part we were a little behind last year, but in all other departments, and in particular aerodynamics, we were at the same level, maybe a round behind, which is the normal time to produce a part. So, politically, there was this change. Everyone wants to get the bike as soon as possible, and to answer your question, if your question behind that question is "are we going to start with the carbon frame this year?" ", yes, I can tell you that yes, we will test it at some point and I am quite confident that we will have the same package as the other guys to start the season in Qatar. Yes. »
You know KTM very well: do you think this year could be the good year for KTM?
" We will see. Last week we were all at the factory and I had a good chat with Fabiano about the goals and progress. So we have made progress, but how far are we from the summit? Statistically, there are some interesting figures which show that we are really not far from victory. And we believe that for our package throughout the season, the average lap time loss is less than 2/10. So let's say that if we manage to improve by 2/10 per lap, we will be close to the best Ducati. It's a lot, but it's only two tenths. And I especially saw the aerodynamic elements to be tested in the next tests, and there are quite a few interesting things. I can only tell you that the whole factory is really pushing very hard. I definitely think we took an interesting step last year and now we need another step forward, but everyone is ready, and pushing. We have the right riders to do it and honestly, I'm really confident that we will finish the season close to the Ducati guys. »
But there is also still a team record over the last 3 years which is not very good in terms of ranking. Finally, without wanting to emphasize the negative point, it is a reality. And I don't think it only comes from the riders so what progress do you expect from the KTM this year?
“So technically it’s certain that the bike has progressed a lot. If we talk about 2022, it is certain that in the team, we had certain drivers who did not necessarily want to come on this machine. Well, nevertheless, they had the season. The machine was still quite behind. I think that between 22 and 23 there was a really big step forward. That is to say that the machine itself has already progressed enormously, and statistically, when we look at the overall performance of the 4 Pierer Mobility drivers in 2023, we were much closer to the top drivers than in 2022. In 2022 , unfortunately for us, as we know, we will say that we were unlucky. We still had our top driver who was absent for the entire first part of the season, so it is certain that to play for a championship, especially at the team level since that is the question you are talking about, it It sure is difficult. So we found ourselves in a situation where in the first part of the season, we only had one rookie. So he alone to develop the machine, and the leader of the team absent. So, the machine was, I think, efficient, but we were a little unlucky. So. This year? I think we have a rookie who has all the qualities required to perform at this level in MotoGP, we have Augusto Fernandez who had a very good season in MotoGP, and who must now take a further step. The two know each other well, the two will push each other. There you go, we really hope to find ourselves competitive this year, much more than in other years.”
How does it happen in the event of a fall with carbon frames?
“So, as I said, when the first carbon frames were rolled into racing, nothing was ready at the factory, but let's say that the performances were so good that in a hurry, it was decided to to run them, but let's say that these were not ready-to-run parts. Since then, efforts have been made at the factory, and the weak points of this chassis have been improved. So. So we are going on these first tests if these improvements have been sufficient or not, to allow us to work a little more calmly with these chassis, because indeed, last year, at KTM there were quite a few changes : almost every fall, it was necessary to change the chassis and repair it, either at the factory or behind the bos, but it took a certain amount of time. So we hope that the modifications that were made this winter at the factory will allow us to work in the same way as with an aluminum chassis or a steel chassis.”
