MotoGP, Hervé Poncharal, Tech3: “Ducati demonstrated that a European manufacturer could be stronger than the Japanese”

It is a new page in its history that the team will write in 2019. Tech3. Until then, the French had always been equipped with Japanese machines. But times are changing and now they are in the fold of KTM. A gamble, certainly, but well calculated. The French boss explains why…

Between Tech3 and Yamaha, twenty years of history gaze down upon us from the top of the 31 podiums won. Certainly, none of these ceremonies was celebrated on the first march. But all the same, it poses a team whose reputation and know-how have won over KTM. In comments relayed by Motoracing, the boss explains: “ I worked with Honda for about ten years, then two years at Suzuki, in 1992 and 1993, then we moved to Yamaha in 1999. Twenty years have passed since then. And some marriages last less than our partnership ».

On his new orientation, he develops: “ I could have stayed with the Yamaha. But this new challenge is very exciting. Of course, many people have told me I'm crazy and ask me why I made this choice. But it's just another motivation for me. When we hired Jonas Folger and Johann Zarco two years ago, we weren't crazy...I'm not saying it will be easy. Obviously we will have difficult times ».

Difficult, certainly, but not insurmountable, because we know with a red stable that there can be another life beyond the builders of the empire of the rising sun... " Ten years ago, no one would have believed that Ducati would have made the most powerful motorcycle, because we always thought the Japanese were superior. But they showed it was possible... It doesn't matter if you're from Asia or Europe – concluded Poncharal – we must make wise decisions, invest a lot of time, love and dreams ».

KTM will provide Tech3 with two official motorcycles. What no manufacturer on the MotoGP grid currently offers to its satellite structures.