The end of the year is approaching and it is time to take stock of the MotoGP season, which we did on the evening of Valencia with Hervé Poncharal, in his role as president of IRTA, the teams association.
We have reviewed most of the new features that marked 2023, with the introduction of Sprint races, the unbalanced calendar, tire pressure monitoring, the introduction of India and many other subjects. . The team representative shared with us his measured insights built over more than four decades spent in the paddock…
India, a nice surprise?
Hervé Poncharal :
“Yes, I would say that 4 or 5 weeks before the Grand Prix, we were all still waiting, and there were many, including me, who were doubtful about the possibility of going. There was a lot of bureaucracy, there was a lot of administrative burden, it was complicated to organize. We heard a lot of things on the circuit and it was even said that the drivers had said that they would not race if a wall was not removed. Good. And then we got there, we were told that we were all going to die of dysentery, no one got sick, we all were careful (laughing), and we saw an incredible country, a city, a city... no longer a megalopolis, mind-blowing, but above all, we saw incredibly passionate people, incredibly kind, well-mannered, attentive to the slightest of our wishes, a magnificent circuit which was validated by the pilots, and finally an organization which progressed a lot between Thursday and Sunday. And we had magnificent races, and I think we put it on the launching pad: India is still the most populous country on the planet, it's still the biggest two-wheel market on the planet, they are not slowing down at all, and so going there, it makes sense and it's fabulous! And the circuit is magnificent: for any aficionado who reads Paddock-GP and who wants to say to themselves “I would go to an exotic circuit”, this one is a must.”
So unfortunately, this year was also marked by very bad news at the IRTA level, with the loss of Mike Trimby. How do you deal with this? What is being put in place?
“Yes (sigh). Deaths are never very predictable, apart from long illnesses. And so our friend, one of the founding members of the IRTA, who worked enormously for the professionalization of Grands Prix, especially initially for the safety of the drivers. That's why he fought, and for the comfort of the teams who worked, because I was there when the IRTA was created in 86, I was still in short pants, I was one of the first members of the IRTA, but Mike Trimby was at the helm with Michel Metraux and Serge Rosset, and our goal was to professionalize the Paddock, our sport, and above all to secure the profession of driver, by skipping certain circuits and by making it clear, in particular to the International Motorcycle Federation, that if we wanted this sport to progress, we must above all ensure that our heroes can do their job in dignified conditions, particularly safety, and that our technical teams work in conditions worthy of life on the paddocks which at the time were more fallow fields than the paddocks we know them today. So he's someone I knew and worked with, since I've been president of IRTA for almost twenty years, maybe even more, I don't know exactly, well for a while, and when you work with someone almost 365 days a year, with whom you exchange, with whom almost overnight we had a meeting of the Grand Prix Commission on Friday noon in Misano and we joked together, and when we calls you, someone comes to pick you up in your room in the evening at 23:00 p.m. and tells you that Mike Trimby is dead, the shock is incredible! It was the Italian Grand Prix at the time when we were packing all our freight to go to India. Anyway, when someone dies, it's always a huge shock. This was absolutely not planned, heart attack. Mike, he had a key role, he had a way of working where he kept a lot of things and he managed without systematically sharing and delegating everything. And it had to be done, so when you have the pain and the shock of the death of a close person, and on top of that there are 3000 people in the paddock, it's still a big factory, a big machine , and when in addition you are preparing to send hundreds of tons to the other side of the planet, we had to deal with the most urgent and we shared the tasks between Dorna, Jeff Dickson, who was the paddock manager , Daniel Rich who was the technical director, me who is president. We tried to contact people since the company is based in Switzerland, where there is all the accounting, because we must not forget that the paddock, race after race, receives financial support and that is what moves forward, and if everything is blocked for reasons X or Y, well everything stops eh, the machine seizes up.
And thanks to everyone's involvement, I can say that between Italy, Misano, India and Japan, we had days that were closer to 18 hours than 7 hours. And I'm quite proud, not of me but of the way the paddock reacted, the way the teams understood that they couldn't systematically have the same service for a little while. But in any case, we allowed the show to continue, we allowed the MotoGP machine to go to the end of the season. On Monday December 4, the vast majority of the paddock will meet in London for a day called "Celebration of Life", which is organized by his wife Irène Trimby, to all get together and have a final farewell to Mike, since we didn't even have time to pay homage to him at home, since we were on the plane taking us to India.
But we are in the process of restructuring and I think that we are working well, that the organization will be even more efficient. I am sure of it. What I would like to say is that there are many people for whom it is always good to shoot the boss, but one of the strengths of MotoGP of course is the spectacle, it is the machines that the manufacturers produce, it is the incredible level of our heroes who are the drivers, but it is also the way in which the championship is managed, and I think that the promoter, the manager of the championship, Dorna, they make a fantastic job, whether in terms of the calendar, or in terms of the agreements with the manufacturers. There, they reacted so that the show is still as beautiful, they have just released concessions which will allow even more to have a very similar level between all the manufacturers, and they give the teams the opportunity to work in real conditions . A few years ago, most teams, even in the premier category, the mechanics were paid with the driver's bonuses, it was cash, it was cash, no one had social security, no one contributed. to nothing at all. Today, each team is a company that has the possibility of working in normal conditions and each employee is an employee with all the social security coverage that you must have today. We also have the Xiron structure now which is there, which follows everyone. When we were in India, there were problems and concerns, particularly in relation to stories of food poisoning, but we were briefed by the medical teams who were with us. Now pilots who get injured, whether anywhere on the planet, are repatriated. Finally, I think that Dorna is really doing an incredible job and we have a championship which is efficient but where there is a lot of humanity in the management of the paddock, and of every individual, whatever their rank and role. And I don’t want to say that everything is going well in the best of all possible worlds, eh! Once again, there are some who will say “yeah, he sells us his soup”, but I don’t have any soup to sell! I say what I think. There are those who may disagree with me, they have the right, and I am ready to debate.”
This year, there have been attempts for the pilots to come together to raise their voice a little more among themselves, in parallel with the meeting of the Safety Commission on Friday. What do you think ?
“Already, I think that as you have just pointed out, it is one of the rare championships, I don't know if it is the only one, where the promoter, the boss, Carmelo Ezpeleta, brings together every Friday evening all the drivers and asks them what they have to say, especially about the event they are on. That is to say the circuit is what it is going to, are there things to change, gravel trap, the gravel is too small, too big, the Airfences are poorly placed, et cetera. So that, already, is a respect from the promoter towards his actors. Afterwards, there is an association of teams, the IRTA, there is an association of manufacturers, MSMA, and I have been in the paddock for years, decades, and I have already heard about it, and I say why not ? Somewhere, I say, do it, and I don't see that in a bad or good way, but rather I see it in a good way. But then, you have to know what goal you want to achieve, and if you want to do it, you have to do it well. So you have to have an association, with statutes, you have to have a spokesperson, you have to have an agenda, you have to hold meetings and bring up topics of discussion to share with the builder, with the promoter, with whoever you know. I, make reports, etc. That's it, roughly speaking, that means having a professional organization that holds up if you want to be taken seriously and considered. So no one is against it, and now the ball is in the drivers' court, to show that they are big boys who are capable of it. But afterward, is the game worth it? It's up to them to see if they want to do it. No one will be able to stop them, no one wants to stop them. Now, when we know the way in which the promoter treats them and listens to them, when we know that there is this Safety Commission every Friday evening, it is up to them to think. But whether it's Carmelo, me, the FIM or the MSMA, no one has anything against it. But once again, girl, go ahead guys, do something: we've been talking about it for years, it's a bit like the Loch Ness monster, eh, it's hard to see the head sticking out of water, but on the contrary, it can ultimately make them more responsible and perhaps allow them to become more aware of what Dorna, what IRTA, what MSMA, are doing, and the work behind it, which is sometimes taken too lightly.
What does a pilot need? First of all, obviously, he risks his life and physical integrity. So it's obvious that it's the first thing that must always be prioritized in any preamble to a discussion, of anything.
I've said it before, but I'll tell you again. 2003, Japanese Grand Prix. Colliding at the chicanes at the end of the first lap, Kato will hit a wall that we knew was borderline, Kato loses his life. Absolute shock. Carmelo, I saw him collapsed. And that same evening, he said “we will never come back to Suzuka as long as the wall is there. If we want to come back, we have to push this wall back.” There were complicated real estate issues because it was not possible to acquire the land behind it to move back the wall. A lot of people said at the time “Carmelo will crack under the pressure from Honda, because Suzuka belongs to Honda, and therefore we will return there”. We never went back!
Just this little example to show that Carmelo doesn't mess around with safety. And I remember the state he was in at Sepang in relation to Simoncelli's death. So the drivers have a promoter, and they know it, who will never compromise and who will always be with them, who has invested and pushes every year for safety, it is he who made the airbag compulsory for all categories , even Moto3, the Rookies Cup, all that is mandatory airbag, it was he who imposed it. Regularly, helmet standards evolve with the FIM, since Jorge Viegas, also responsible at this level, Viegas and Ezpeleta, president of the FIM and CEO of Dorna, they are all the time pushing the limits of the safety on equipment. We constantly do tests, we have Airfences that work, it was Carmelo who brought them. He went to see a downhill ski race in Kitzbühel. He saw that, he said “I want that in the Grands Prix”, 20 years or 30 years ago, I don’t know anymore.
So if the drivers have things to say, they know that they can go see the promoter. Now, if they want to form an association, there are real areas of dispute and they think they are not listened to enough, et cetera, go for it! I don't really know what it can be used for, and what is not being addressed today, but if they want to do it, I encourage them and I will help them, even if they want little tips by in relation to our experience of team association.”
