To interview Hervé Poncharal after the MotoGP tests in Sepang would not have been of much interest, since that would have skipped the three days of testing which ended on the new Mandalika track, in Indonesia.
But less than three weeks before the start of the 2022 season, it seemed important to us to collect the results of the boss of the Tech3 team, not only with regard to his team which fields the rookies Raul Fernandez et Remy Gardner, but also more generally for KTM, before, the icing on the cake, to collect the thoughts of what a more than experienced professional in the paddock anticipates for the 2022 season...
This interview is therefore published in three very distinct parts.
Hervé Poncharal, in the end, after a good start, the tests in Asia ended in a slightly frustrating way for your team, especially with the fall of Raúl Fernández…
Hervé Poncharal : " Yes. In Sepang we were much closer, a second away, but if you look at the Mandalika ranking sheet, that's the case. After tests like this, we shouldn't focus on the timesheet, because many drivers did not do a time attack on the last day, with us but also Bagnaia, Miller and even Marc Márquez. The sheet represents the time attack over a lap and I'm not saying that it doesn't represent a hierarchy: it's important, and in particular Fabio talked about it a lot for qualifying, and Pol too, but it only remains one time attack. What you also need to look at is the average performance, with racing tires, with worn tires, etc. So I honestly think our position, and that of KTM in general, is certainly a little better in terms of technical parity and performance situation than Mandalika's timesheet on Sunday evening shows.
Now, as I have always said, the media, the journalists, the other teams including us, do not have much on which to base themselves to make comparisons. »
We can still put the timesheet into perspective by looking at the race simulations that have been done, and in which we see, for example, that Miguel Oliveira is doing really well...
« Last year, Petrucci always said that he couldn't improve what he should have improved when we switched to two new soft tires at the end of the session, and he did almost the same times as with the medium. So he had a problem extracting the potential from the soft tires. Iker was doing it a little better, but despite everything we also saw that Binder often had average qualifications, not to say less than average, and Miguel rarely qualified very well too.
So if we take the example of Binder, who is the best placed KTM rider in the championship since he finished sixth, he made a lot of superb comebacks! Iker also did a superb one at Silverstone. So we have a bit of a problem in this area: so is it the drivers, we'll see, is it the machine? We have a bit of a problem really hitting lap times, unlike some other machines. It's perhaps due to the profiles of the drivers we have: it's always very complicated to really put your finger on that.
Your analysis is therefore good and highlights precisely what I was telling you. But we must not make excuses, say that the bride is more beautiful than she really is or go against the evidence by saying that we are the best but that all the elements have conspired against us: No ! No ! No ! You have to be objective and accept the reality of the facts. On the other hand, despite everything, as I have been saying for several years even if there are not too many solutions either, a pilot is not a machine, he is not a robot! Especially when he is young and discovering the category.
Obviously, rookies want to ride as much as possible because they want to learn the category, the tires, the brakes, the electronics, the extra power, etc. So for a number of years we have opened the famous shakedown to rookies, and in addition to factories which had concessions, which is very good because it means more running. On the other hand, we found ourselves upon arriving in Mandalika with two pilots who were more or less tired. Having talked about it a little bit and having seen the comments, I think that the others were a little in the same state. Di Giannantonio missed two days at Sepang because he was not feeling well. They were all more or less tired, and it must be admitted, ours were worn out!
Remy also had the problem of a fracture in his right wrist. It's clear that when we arrive at Mandalika, it's very important because it's a new and different circuit to learn. But the first day there was the problem of the track, dirty, wet, mud, cleaning, etc. The second day was much better, especially for Raul who was in the top 12 or 13 all day until everyone did the time attack and he suffered his first fall at the end of the day. It was a pretty heavy fall and even though he went to the mobile clinic where he was told there was no problem for the next day, and he had a good evening and night. , he experienced a very small crash the next day after six laps before returning to the box and fitting two new tires to start again. He left and said “out lap” then “in”. He came home and said he was too tired and couldn't get his bearings right, and everything was a little blurry. He went to the mobile clinic where they did two or three reflex tests before telling him to drop it. He spent the day watching and he doesn't have any particular problems, but it's more a case of serious fatigue than anything else. It's like that.
Now, the drivers say that but I am convinced that when we discuss the winter tests again in September-October next year, the factories will push to have the maximum number of days possible, because there are fewer and fewer of them, and it's true that without the shakedown there are only five days. It's very good that there is the shakedown, but the shakedown is above all for the test teams with their test riders, but I know very well that all the rookies will be on the verge of moving up to MotoGP in 2023 will push to have more days. And the factories and teams that hire them will push for more. And it makes sense! Except that when you give them what they asked for, in the end they say that it's a little too much and that they can't take it anymore, they're tired and they can't concentrate. The balance and the truth are always in the middle: you shouldn't ride too little and you shouldn't ride too much either. The problem is that the driving ban includes December/January, so you can't ride before February, while the start of the championship is at the beginning of March since there are 21 races now. So the testing window is only the month of February, and automatically it is very tight since the freight has to be sent back from Malaysia to Indonesia then to Qatar. In addition, these are still tests and normally after the last session the factories validate or invalidate all the things they have tested, and it takes them a little time to prepare everything and send it to Qatar.
It's not easy but the rule is the same for everyone, so we don't complain, even if it's clear that eight days not consecutive but not far away, it's a lot of physical and mental fatigue too. In MotoGP, each rider has two bikes, so he rides a lot more than in Moto2 or Moto3. There are many more people around you who ask lots of pointed questions and, after giving your best on the track, you have to think carefully about providing relevant answers so as not to go in a direction that would not be relevant. For a young 22-year-old driver, it's a lot to learn, so hats off to all five rookies, but the first assessment of the tests is this: it's a very complicated and very important period, with a additional element for new drivers who arrive in a new framework.
Raúl constantly puts it forward, he appreciates having a competitive but family atmosphere, with a lot of human support and complicity. He has breakfast with his team, just like dinner, and we can especially do that during the winter tests where we are together for a long time and we share a lot of things. This state of team spirit is created during the winter tests, and there I think we did a great job, including with Remy who is super easy anyway and who already knows a lot of the Tech3 team for having already worked with him in Moto2. And for Raúl, he is super happy and he constantly sends me words to tell me that the team is fantastic and the guys are great. It's all the more important as now we're going to start the championship and we're going to find ourselves under a lot more pressure and tension. Pilots will be much more caught up in marketing and media obligations, they will have less time to spend with their team, so everything we have built in terms of relationships will be very important and could only have been done during these tests. »
To be continued…
