After the success that the Tech3 team achieved at the French Grand Prix, namely a victory in Moto3 with Daniel Holgado and a superb fourth place in MotoGP with Augusto Fernandez, we obviously wanted to collect the words of a Hervé Poncharal legitimately very happy.
This was done, but we also asked the boss of the Bormes-les-Mimosas team what his reaction was to the statements of Francis Bagnaia in GPone requiring a performance differential of 6 or 7 tenths between official motorcycles and customer motorcycles. And there, the president of IRTA did not mince his words…
We are therefore starting by publishing this topical question, with the rest coming tomorrow.
Mr. Poncharal, after the French Grand Prix where 4 satellite motorcycles finished in the first 4 places, we read in the Italian press which Francis Bagnaia begins to distill the idea that unofficial motorcycles should perform less than factory motorcycles. What do you think, you who would then be directly impacted and who have already experienced such a period where this was the case?
Hervé Poncharal: « What I think about it is that, as is often the case, on Sunday evening when I come home before going to bed, I haven't experienced enough MotoGP so I read everything that is written on a little bit of all the national and international sites, and I came across an Italian site where there was an interview with Pecco Bagnaia who talked a little about his problem with Maverick Viñales, and then I read like that and I was very surprised on the part of the reigning world champion, of someone who is respectable, whom I respect enormously, for whom I have a lot of admiration, and who is always quite calm in his comments, to read an enormity, I could even say an enormous bullshit, because Pecco Bagnaia, like any rider, comes from Moto3, he went through Moto 2, he arrived in MotoGP in an independent team that we can call private or satellite, we call it whatever we want, and he was happy to have a high-performance motorcycle that allowed him to get noticed. And then, as he progressed in this MotoGP category, he was offered a factory handlebar, which is a bit like the dream course and that every talented rider wishes to have. »
“And what was my surprise, while he benefited from this system, he was able to have high-performance motorcycles in independent structures, to read that it would be good if there were 6 or 7 tenths per lap decided by the engineers of the manufacturers who are present on the MotoGP grid, therefore, that we castrate the motorcycles of the private teams by 6 or 7 tenths per lap. This is roughly the deficit he would like to see imposed on them in order to have fun among the rich and powerful. He even noted the fantastic 4 which were Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa at the time when the factory bikes were much more efficient than the independent teams' bikes and it was a great situation. »
« And there, when we know the work we have done, we, to be able to have a decent grid, we independent teams, with Dorna, with the FIM, with the MSMA, we managed to convince the manufacturers that it They needed to equip us with high-performance machines, that it was for their interest in promoting young drivers, to have a sporting policy worthy of the name, to have more feedback, what we call feedback. data from more drivers. And finally, we got to the point that almost all the bikes that were on the track were factory bikes of the year, apart from a few Ducatis which are a year old but which are very efficient, but in any case at Honda, in the Pierer Mobility group, we have motorcycles that are 2023, and I think it's a fabulous situation! As you noticed, the first 4 positions at the French Grand Prix were 4 independent teams, and it's fabulous to see that the title race is wide open, that there is a point between Bezzecchi who is a young rider who arrives on a Ducati motorcycle from a private team and who is one point behind Bagnaia on the official motorcycle from the same factory. It's great for everyone, it's great for the sport, it's great emulation and it allows us, the independent teams, to convince our partners, who we can also call sponsors, to join us because we tell them that we are not only there to fill in the grid but that we are also there to perform! We can win races and possibly aim for the title. »
« And frankly, when I read that, after almost 15 years of work to make it understood that this is the situation I just talked about was the ideal situation for us to have a great show and for all the actors , I'm also talking about the teams, can live decently, can pay their mechanics decently, and can pay their drivers decently. He forgets that too, because if we don't have results, we don't have a sponsor, we don't pay our riders, and when he arrived in MotoGP in an independent team, he was happy to being treated with equipment that was efficient and being treated like a professional pilot with mechanics who were professional. So at one point, I thought that when we had the level that we had and therefore we were the reigning world champion, we had told you and taught you that you had to turn your tongue 7 times in your mouth before saying something. nonsense. And then he said a lot of nonsense! It personally shocked me a lot because it is unsporting. »
« One of the values which for me is one of the basic values of sport is respect and fairness. And that is somehow a lack of respect to, once again, not castrate but penalize. In addition, he gave amounts of the penalty, of 6 or 7 tenths: In his great leniency, he did not reach the second. And what is sport in these cases? Because what we want to see is motorcycles fighting, but also men fighting! This is a lack of respect even towards his colleagues in VR46! It would be good if he talked to Bezzecchi about it… »
Do you think that this idea could receive a certain response from manufacturers who would obviously then pack their last year's motorcycles at a lower cost, as was the case in the past?
« No, it just disappointed me from someone for whom I still have a lot of respect. But no, I think that it will have no impact because the manufacturers present today in MotoGP know the value and the interest of having machines from the same season with high-performance riders on them in order to be able to improve the equipment. . There is a manufacturer today who has lost his satellite teams and who is not happy to have lost them, and who is facing the reality of only having 2 bikes on the grid. So in my opinion it won't have any consequences, but I think it's a shame that someone, who is still our leader since he is the reigning world champion, indulges in such little comments. interesting. I think the situation today is fabulous: We have 279 people who came to see a mega show and that's because there is a great show, superb battles with potential winners who are almost as numerous as those who are on the grid, that we have this success. So, no, I don't have a problem, but I thank you for giving me the opportunity to have a little rant. Sometimes it's good to have a little rant: There are people who say “Yeah, Poncharal, he polishes everyone's pumps, he serves soup and he's always happy. It’s smooth.” No, I'm not smooth ! »
To be continued…
