During the last of the two days of testing in Misano, Hervé Poncharal took a trip back in time while remaining in his Tech3 KTM box. With Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez on his RC16s, he had a first glimpse of what the 2022 MotoGP season will be like, but looking at this duo who currently dominates Moto2 as two of his former riders did in 250, he is also returned to the last century…
The seasons follow one another and are not alike for one Hervé Poncharal who has already convinced himself that he will not repeat, during the four remaining Grands Prix, the exploits experienced last year with no less than two victories. The 2021 season, in fact, is not going as well with the performances ofIker Lecuona et Danilo Petrucci which are below the level offered by the French structure last year. THE 75 points that the Spaniard and the Italian scored place the team Tech3 penultimate in the team classification, seven points ahead of Petronas Yamaha SRT, the last team to close the table, and which is therefore also even further away than the French from their last performance in the championship.
2022 is in fact awaited with a certain interest by the French boss and all the more so as he approaches the arrival of his two new recruits in a refreshing way: “ Both Raúl and Remy are having an incredible season this year, I think what they are doing has never happened before. Perhaps we should go back to 250 to remember Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque dominating the championship like Rémy and Raúl do ". And the two eldest were then playing under the Tech3 colors on Yamahas.
But now, Hervé Poncharal defends the cause KTM : " KTM is a company that is very involved in racing, their slogan is “Ready To Race”, and it is real. When Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez decided to jump into MotoGP, with all the support of Stefan Pierer and the entire KTM factory, and of course with the sponsorship of Red Bull behind them, they wanted to be sure that they were going to get the good support. KTM CEO Stefan Pierer was clear: here we don't have a factory team with two motorcycles and another satellite with two motorcycles. No, here we have four complete factory motorcycles. Actually this year we are wearing the factory colors, and it's an honor for us, but they want to put both teams on the same level ».
Hervé Poncharal: “Esteban Garcia will have a key role"
A balance which will be even more guaranteed in 2022 with the arrival of a certain Stephen Garcia in the device. The former chief engineer of Maverick Vinales at Yamaha and previously from Bradley Smith within the official Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team is thus presented by the boss of Tech3 on motogp.com : « to coordinate everything and ensure that each technical team works on their rider's bike during each session, Esteban García will be the technical director. He will supervise everything that is happening and will speak with the engineers between each session to pass on information from each team leader, because between runs there is not much time and on a competition weekend everything is very tight ».
Therefore, Stephen Garcia will become the main link between the Austrian factory and Tech3's technical staff, and will also orbit around Gardner et Fernandez to resolve any questions or requests: “ what's good about Esteban is that in addition to knowing KTM, he knows Remy and Raúl very well. He's seen them grow up since they were kids, and if they have any doubts about who they should talk to, Esteban will be there as will the team leader or myself. I think he will play a key role next year "Concludes Hervé Poncharal.
