Before the shakedown MotoGP in Sepang, then just after, we had the opportunity to gather the opinions of Randy De Puniet on the past season, on the one to come and on its news.
And as usual, the ex-Grand Prix driver, who currently combines his commitment to endurance with his role as a consultant at Canal+, doesn't speak tongue-in-cheek...
Randy, let's take things chronologically. How did you find the 2023 season, with a finale at the last race? That was pretty nice…
Randy De Puniet :
“Yes, it was a great season, we had a great show. Afterwards, well, unfortunately, there is this Ducati domination which crushes the competition, even if from time to time the Aprilia or the KTM have taken their heads out of the water a little. But it's certain that on a regular basis this bike, well, it's scary. And anyway apart from Binder who managed to get into the championship, we can see that if you didn't have a Ducati, it wasn't easy…”
But still, interest shifted to the Bagnaia/Martin fight, with all the stories there were…
" Yes it's sure. There was a duel when Bezzecchi gave up at the end, even though he was still there. The Martin/Bagnaia duel was still quite intense, and then by having two races per weekend, it's true that it still raises a lot of things each time. So for us to comment, it was still a great championship, even if, I repeat once again, there was overwhelming domination by the Ducati. »
What rating would you give, from 0 to 10?
“An 8, yes.”
Well, a nice season, 8 out of 10 is good, but the one that is coming promises to be even better, at least on paper. How do you see it?
“I see a good year. There, we are impatiently waiting for what will happen with the dealerships for Yamaha and Honda: will they be able to benefit from it? In any case, they are doing everything they can to get back to the level. At one point, Aprilia, KTM, and even Ducati a very long time ago, were entitled to it, so we had to find a solution for these bikes to return to the fight, at least already for the podiums. To have. Will they be able to do it? In any case everything is done to, and if they don't succeed, that means that in terms of development and in terms of ideas, well they are behind compared to European machines, since Aprilia has succeeded to do something, KTM succeeded too, so there is no reason why the Japanese brands cannot succeed.”
In fact, you were a KTM and Suzuki test rider, so you know what you're talking about: in your opinion, how long will it take before we see the first benefits from the dealerships?
“Already, we will have to see the potential of the bike in February during the test, whether it is Honda or Yamaha. They still had 2 months to work in Japan after everything that was done in Valencia, even if on the Yamaha side not much was done externally. At Honda, on the other hand, things are working, because Bradl was still at Jerez last week. So it's hard work. Everything will depend on the base of the 2024 machine. So it is certain that if the Yamaha gains 3% when it needs 30, from the first turns of the wheels they will be in trouble: even if they to be able to test and they will be able to develop, at some point they will not be able to work miracles either. So I'm waiting to see Sepang a bit, what it's going to be like, to say “well, Honda they won X%, Yamaha they won Y%. Which one is best placed? I still have the impression that it's going to be the Honda that's going to be better than the Yamaha, given the work they do and the tests they do. Unless the Yamaha hides its game well and they pull something out from behind the fagots. But hey, while Bradl rolls, Crutchlow doesn’t roll.”
At least that’s the impression we actually have…
“So that means that they are falling behind, that means that maybe Bradl, if he did 6 days of testing, well out of the 6 days there are 4 rotten ones and there are 2 good ones . But Yamaha, if they made 0, if they attack with bad days, they lose time. And then the weather, from the beginning of February, there is no more, it will go very quickly. So as I told you, we have to see where the base of the machine will be located when it runs at Sepang.”
Okay, so that’s the predominant element, the level they will have at the start of the year…
" Yes. Afterwards, it is certain that they will have the means to progress. But if you start from 6, well it's more complicated to go to 10 than if you start from 8. So it's easier. Today, I think they know, where they are potentially, but they don't know how the competition has worked, how the Ducati has progressed, how the Aprilia and the KTM have progressed. So the assessment will already be made after the 3rd day of the starting drivers at Sepang. That will already give you an idea, especially for the Japanese.”
So today we can say that the 2024 season seems to be open, even if Ducati has promised surprises, they have worked on the engine, that they said, and they promise us a fairing like we have never seen …
" Yes. They already have a lead over the others, and if they attack the start of the season with the new bike which is already a notch above the old one, it will hurt. Because. Often, in recent years, we see that the bike of the year is always a little complicated to ride in the first part, but once they have put everything together, then it flows. So there, if from the start the bike is above the 2023, the others really have to worry…”
Another element that makes the 2024 season very interesting is still Marc Marquez on a Ducati…
" Yes ! I, Marquez, see it very quickly. Besides, this was seen in the Valencia test where he seemed, I'm not going to say wandering around, but not taking any risks, and he was already in the game. So he didn't do anything, he didn't want to say “look, I have a Ducati, I'm going to beat everyone on the clock”. No, he remained wise, he learned quietly, but I see him ahead. Now, from what I have heard, he will benefit from the 2023 bike but not the latest evolution. It’s the bike that Johann Zarco had, which means they’re not going to give him the best 2023 machine.”
She doesn't have a great system for departures...
“Already, and there may be other things we don’t know. So they will still do everything to prevent him from winning too many races and winning the championship. Because at Ducati, we saw it with Martin, it would have been messy for Pramac to go for the title, which is logical. It's certain that if Martin had fought against a KTM, an Aprilia or something else, they would have done everything to help him. But there, they didn't do everything to help him, we have to be honest. That's how it is and unfortunately it's normal. A satellite team's only chance of being champion is if it doesn't fight head to head with the factory. So for Marquez, there they are, they put him already a little bit of a hindrance by giving a bike that is perhaps a step worse than Bagnaia's bike and 1/2 step compared to the bike that Bagnaia used at the end of the year with Martin. But I still see it ahead.”
Oh yes, absolutely? So you anticipate possible “mapping 8”…
“But I see it ahead. I see it ahead, without a doubt. I knew at Aprilia, and when I hear Martin who says that Michelin sabotaged him by giving him a bad tire, that already I don't see how it's possible, because today the tires are drawn. How can the Sunday tire not fit? In what interest would Michelin have said to Pramac “you put this tire on Sunday, you don’t put it on Saturday or Friday”? No. But on the other hand, that Ducati decides to do a little bit of what they want in electronics, that's more likely. At least it's not impossible. I see more on that side. The Michelin move, I don't believe it at all, it's impossible. Nobody believes it but there's never anyone who says things, you see. And today at some point, we have to put our cards on the table. I don't know which tire he used, but if it's the medium, if they gave him 8 crappy mediums, in these cases every time he passes the medium he doesn't make it. So for me it doesn't come from the tire. It was probably something in the machine, but hey, we'll never know.
There is just Stoner, in an interview, who said things, and he knows it well since he was at Ducati, so he knows well how it goes.”
Wow, I'm interested in you (laughs): what does that mean? Aren't you afraid to say that?
To be continued…
