At Tech3 we proclaim it to anyone who will listen, the M1 that they have in their box no longer undergoes any evolution. There follows a logical drop in performance since the others, meanwhile, are moving forward. A technical situation which echoes a move to KTM both on the part of the team and the rider Johann zarco ? Boss Hervé Poncharal dismantles this theory.
An idea that Marc Marquez had suggested, pointing out that the difficulties of Johann zarco appeared shortly after he signed his official contract with the Mattighofen firm. But Hervé Poncharal doesn't believe it: No no ", underlines the French on speedweek. " We have been working with Yamaha for 20 years, in the premier category since 2001. I know their policy, their support. Johann would have had nothing anyway, zero. This has nothing to do with our rebranding ».
He nevertheless specifies: “ but in 2019 the situation will apparently change. It has been announced that Franco Morbidelli will have a 2019 bike in Yamaha's new satellite team. On the other hand, nothing would have changed for us if we had stayed with Yamaha. Even when we had other fast riders like Dovizioso, Crutchlow or Ben Spies who were strong, or even Johann last year, we had nothing. The fact that he signed for another manufacturer does not matter here ».
Nevertheless, Johann zarco can still finish this season as best private driver. Fifth in Thailand, he is only five points behind sixth overall, Cal Crutchlow, who rides a 213 Honda RC2018V.
