Following the presentation of the 2021 colors of the two KTM teams, we attended an exceptional press conference this Friday, February 12.
Exceptional due to the context which prevails at the moment and, as a consequence of the first point, exceptional due to its very unusual length: Hervé Poncharal spoke for almost an hour and a half to satisfy the endless curiosity of the 25 journalists registered for this videoconference.
As usual, we will provide you with the full text of this first substantial chapter of the 2021 season, without the slightest formatting, in several parts, even if it will be very, very long...
How do you foresee your future with KTM?
« The current situation of Tech3 is that we are starting our last year of contract (with KTM). We had signed for three years, 2019, 2020 and 2021. I have always said that I would like to work very loyally and I think that success does not only come from continuity, but that continuity is often part of success. . I stayed 20 consecutive years at Yamaha, 18 in the premier class, and I didn't sign with KTM just to do three years and then try to go somewhere else.
In Portimão I was with Stefan Pierer and we talked about the renewal of the teams with Dorna, so I told Stefan that I was signing during the Portimão Grand Prix the new five-year contract from 2022-2026 with Dorna . So I have what we can call the license for two places on the grid until the end of 2026, as a team. Then we discussed what was going to happen with our builder and he asked me "would you be willing to do the new contract, perhaps long term?" ".
I told Stefan, "If you want, I'm willing to sign a five-year contract with you because I'm very happy and I would hate to go and talk to anyone else."
Then he said to me, and Pit Beirer was also at this table, "Okay, let's work on this and do it."
So we started working on it, but honestly the most important thing was to finalize all the logistics and everything we had to do over the winter, but basically both parties, KTM and Tech3, agree: we want do it ! We have to go through some details because it's long term, 5 years, and there are a lot of things that can happen in those 5 years, but I would say 95% we agree with each other, and I really hope that before the start of summer, we will be able to formalize this partnership.
It's like a race: when you lead into the last corner and you crash, you haven't won the race, so nothing is 100% signed. But the will of both parties is there, and that is what we are working on now with Pit Beirer.
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What are your plans for the drivers in 2022, and when will you decide, as it puts pressure on them?
« Pressure? You always have pressure! When you are a team, when you are the promoter, when you are a manufacturer, and of course when you are a driver. But thinking about Danilo, I would say there is positive pressure and you need pressure to perform. All our pilots have signed a contract for one year plus one year. They obviously know it and everyone is happy with the current situation: no one was forced to sign. That's the way we've worked with KTM from the beginning, and overall, around Mugello and Barcelona, that's the point where you start to understand what the following season is going to be like. So I would say the first five or six races will be very important to prepare for 2022. But our position has always been to try to do everything we can to continue working with the same drivers. There is one pilot, among the four, who is no longer with us, but it was his decision to leave. If you look at the factory team, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira have been with Red Bull KTM since almost the Rookies Cup. That's what I like about this organization: we try to emphasize stability. »
We saw it last year where the KTM riders struggled before recovering the data of Miguel Oliveira and Iker Lecuona. Will there be a total opening this year regarding data sharing?
« Sharing data was one of the key points of negotiations when I started joining KTM. I asked them different things. I told them that to do a good job together, I thought we had to have the same 4 motorcycles with the same specifications, the same model years and the same evolutions, that we should not have 2 + 2 but 4. We agreed on that and I also asked them to share the data from the 2019 bike because I think that it also helps each of the four riders and each of the four teams to progress sometimes , see the light sooner. Clearly, when you have four bikes, you have a plus when the weekend starts. This does not mean that everyone uses the same settings, because everyone can follow their own route. Mike Leitner is the technical director and he speaks to the four crew chiefs. Wednesday and Thursday are very intense days in the KTM organization to prepare for Friday and Saturday, but first Friday. I like the example you gave us because Pol is on record saying that the Tech3 setup helped him on this track, and both Brad and Pol were faster on Saturday. But I don't want to take advantage of it because as I said before, we are not better than others: sometimes they help us and sometimes we help them. That's the whole point for a manufacturer to have four top drivers with the same equipment. But sharing data is very, very important and I believe that this and everyone to perform during the Grand Prix, but also to give the right information to the engineers to develop the bike for the future. I'm sure Sahara-san (Suzuki MotoGP Project Leader) must still think he should have (4 bikes), because although they won the championship, and I'm obviously talking about Suzuki, you obviously have more data , more information and more feedback with four motorcycles than with two. This also helps us explain to the factory "help us with the same material and we will help you". So it's a win-win situation and that's why we had a very good championship, and that's also why I asked that for many years from the manufacturer I worked with. Sometimes he couldn't hear me orally but I'm very happy that all together, with Dorna, the MSMA and the IRTA, we finally managed to have this situation almost everywhere on the grille. »
After good performances last year in Moto3, including a podium, what do you expect this year?
« Moto3 is a crazy category, isn't it? When Mr Pierer told me at Spielberg in 2019 “we are stopping Moto2 and we are continuing Moto3”, I said “yes, of course, I want to do that!” ", not because I didn't like the intermediate category but because it was very exciting. It's a very good category for a team manager to follow and I really enjoy it, firstly because our bikes are competitive and then because our two riders are very good. You mentioned Ayumu (Sasaki) who almost won a race, and Deniz (Öncü) is a very talented boy who got a top 6. He could have done even better but you know, Moto3 is very tight. We therefore decided to keep our two drivers and we have a very good atmosphere in the team, but clearly the objective is to do better. I hope we achieve another dream of mine, which is to win in the Moto3 category. We believe a lot in Ayumu and Deniz! »
In MotoE, a few experienced riders left for endurance due to date matches and were replaced by young riders. What do you think and shouldn't we have a longer World Cup?
« I always remember how we started MotoE. No matter what you think of e-Racing, of the opposition between thermal engines and electric motors, this is not the platform to talk about that. All I can say is that if you look at the world, electricity is still being used more and more by humanity to move around the planet. On four wheels, but also on two wheels. It's not a question of whether we like it or not, whether it's a good idea or not, it's something that is already in progress. So I think it was very important to get started. Unfortunately, as I said before, we are going through a big storm and things would be better without this pandemic. We have to face many problems and we cannot do what we planned to do because of all the problems we have to face. You know it very well. But I think we have to continue. Energica works hard, and even though the bike looks the same, I can tell you that the fast chargers still help us more. We should have one more lap this year thanks to the fast chargers on the grid, the batteries are more efficient and the power is greater, so there are clearly things moving. Not as quickly as we hoped, but things are moving.
Yes, there are juxtapositions of dates and endurance took away a few drivers from us because it was mainly their main championship. At the moment we cannot have more races. We have six meetings and seven races. In an ideal world we would have 18 or 20 races, but that is currently not possible. We have to take it step by step because I think it's better than aiming too high and falling.
Regarding the drivers, I don't think this is a big problem. Look at MotoGP: look at what Brad Binder did in his first year, or Miguel Oliveira in his second year, or Johann Mir who is world champion even though he is almost a rookie. So we can see that the future is youth, so the boys who had to go into endurance have left room for new faces who can take advantage of it and become experienced Grand Prix drivers. And if we could look at MotoE as a platform to advance in our championship, instead of early retirement, that would be better. I have an example with Héctor Garzó, who struggled in Moto2 CEV for several years, and we didn't know how to help him. I told him: “Héctor, come with me to MotoE and you will be in the MotoGP paddock. The team managers will look at you, and who knows what could happen. You will be there, where the action takes place, where there are the managers and the factories.” He came with us, he had a very good season in 2019 and he received an offer in Moto2. He fought for podiums and is now a good and experienced Moto2 rider. So it works, although I know that several factors helped him get this place in Moto2, but it's not impossible. This is what I told my two MotoE riders, who are Corentin Perolari and Lukas Tulovic. The glass will never be completely full! So let's see it as half full rather than seeing it as half empty. Let's not be negative about everything and try to do our best in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP, ET MotoE. »
