Among the countless facts of this exciting season which is only five completed meetings, there is this transplant zarco which does not take on the KTM RC16. Unless it's the opposite. A descent into hell for the man who had succeeded so well at Tech3 Yamaha over the last two years. Indeed, it was interesting to know the opinion of his former boss Hervé Poncharal, and all the more so since his own troops moved from Yamaha to KTM. An interesting expertise which provides the keys to decipher what is currently happening between the double Moto2 World Champion and the Mattighofen factory…
The interview is relayed by the site GP One. During the latter, Hervé Poncharal gives a global point of view which broadens the field of analysis. On the atmosphere that prevails between zarco and KTM at the moment, he explains: “ what can I tell you? In this story, I am only a spectator. We had two fantastic years together. Like everyone else, I also thought that Johann's results would be close to those of Pol, that there would be emulation between them. I didn't imagine this situation. Pol has two years of experience on KTM which, as a concept motorcycle, is the opposite of Yamaha. Proof of this is that I didn't even expect to see a novice like Oliveira regularly in front of Syahrin. Miguel's advantage is that he has never ridden another MotoGP, he has no references and, for this reason, he is strong ».
He adds : " all drivers want to race for an official team, with a racing department behind them. It's like going from a ready-to-wear dress to a custom-made dress. This, however, on motorcycles, involves not only focusing on the best setup, but also pointing the direction to the engineers. For Johann, everything is new and it's not easy ».
So much for the case of the couple formed by the Austrian motorcycle and the French pilot. But what about the outbursts of the brand boss? Stefan pierer against his new driver who got very angry with the orange motorcycle? “ They have the same character, even Johann doesn't want to wait. He is a rider and when he goes to the track, he wants to beat his opponents, the other bikes. Last year he had podiums and a pole position, now he finds himself in a situation he didn't expect, he thought he could do better than Pol, but he doesn't. Plus, Quartararo has kind of taken his place and that can be hard to accept, even the ego does its part ».
« Stefan Pierer is the reason why, after so many years, I left Yamaha and signed with KTM. I like people with courage and ambition. When he joined the company, KTM was on the verge of closing and he led it to success. He says it takes time to win in MotoGP, but I know that in reality he is very ambitious and wants to succeed very quickly ».
The Frenchman finishes: “ KTM has racing in its own DNA. It took a few years to win the Dakar and Supercross, but after that it never stopped ».
