Hervé Poncharal and his Tech3 troops brought their partner KTM two of the three successes recorded so far in MotoGP. It is therefore twice as much as the factory itself and the French have given the necessary stripes to Miguel Oliveira to join the official structure in a leadership position. Something to be proud of and 2021 will be a new challenge with the arrival of Danilo Petrucci and the sought-after maturity of Iker Lecuona in whom the French boss firmly believes...
Iker Lecuona arrived in MotoGP and on a KTM by the sheer will and determination ofHervé Poncharal. A bet made on a young driver trained far from the Grand Prix tracks because he comes from supermoto. The Spaniard moved to Moto2 right from the start before making the big jump to the KTM Tech3 in MotoGP. A rapid progression that the pilot must now assume. And the latter realized this well during the launch of the 2020 season in the furnace of Jerez. Stewed, Iker Lecuona physically surrendered before the checkered flag. A lesson since learned.
There were also falls but Hervé PoncharaHe is lenient on this point. Because the Frenchman knows well that this pitfall is an integral part of a pilot’s training: “ it's part of the learning process. Because it is more difficult to turn a slow driver into a fast driver than a fast driver who falls into a fast driver who doesn't fall again. That's why we don't have to worry ».
However, there was this sixth place lost in Misano 2: “ with two laps to go, he was in sixth position, just behind Miguel Oliviera. Then he lost his concentration and had a very stupid accident because his pursuer was six seconds late ».
Hervé Poncharal: “Lecuona has a lot of talent”
More Hervé Poncharal remains confident: we clearly saw the potential, it is clearly there. But we still have a lot to teach Iker. Iker reminds me of a young wolf. He has a lot of talent. But he still needs to learn to understand some important aspects ».
« The only thing I regret is that we missed the last three races of the World Championship with him because of Covid-19. They would have been important to him because he still has a lot to learn. What Iker needs most is tricks, tricks, tricks and races. But we can't go back. The break was instructive for him as he saw how much running he was missing. Hopefully he will be spared from these problems in 2021. We are all yearning for a season that is a little more normal than 2020 ».
Exactly, what are you waiting for? Poncharal de lecuona in 2021? He responds on speedweek : " the goal will be to fight regularly for the first ten places. We know the level of the KTM. This is why Iker must take a big step forward in the second year. Every year is crucial for every driver, for Iker, for Danilo and for so many other drivers ».
