On a very regular basis, and for two years now, Hervé Poncharal has done us the honor of sharing his point of view with us after each Grand Prix (See here).
Listening to his words, which are the fruit of 40 years of experience, is always a pleasure, especially since the man does not have his tongue in his pocket. We thus share with you his emotions, which can fluctuate throughout the trials from disappointment to the greatest joys, without obscuring the small passing gnashing of teeth or, on the contrary, the flights which go well beyond sport...
And we thank him greatly!
All this therefore seems to confirm that the riders are in a daze when they are on the handlebars of their motorcycle, which also sometimes explains certain rants when they return to the box...
" Absolutely ! The words I used at Le Mans “daze, total involvement and lack of perspective” are exactly the words I used in relation to the rant that Johann had after FP4 at Mugello, which was also filmed and used in my opinion in a somewhat cavalier manner, not very respectful and not very intelligent. Once again, when Johann came down from this kind of daze, he asked the team to have a small meeting in the evening to explain to them that in no case were the words he used a reflection of his thought, but that they were due to a kind of frustration that he encountered in a daze in the total search for performance. The words went beyond what he meant, and he told the team that it was completely exaggerated and in no way called into question the friendship and trust he felt towards the group. .
This is something we didn't know, but even before that, he had already said it at a press conference (see here) ...
“Yes, but here, he wanted to do it in a small group, and it was very nice, because he really has a very strong and very intimate relationship with his technical team. With his own words, which are not necessarily intended to be recorded by microphones.”
At Mugello, the weekend was relatively difficult for Johann…
“What we can say is that this year we were able to see the official Yamahas which had a bit of ups and downs, from one race to another or even from one moment of the day to the next. 'other. Sometimes the performance was very good in the morning and then much worse in the afternoon because the temperature had risen. But somewhere, I think it's valid for everyone, because we saw an ultra-dominant Márquez as he was in Argentina before the race, we saw super fast Ducatis in Qatar, we saw a Maverick Vinales who is on the front row at Mugello and who is totally transparent in the race. So it's a championship that is very open and where things are difficult to predict from one race to the next. So it is very complicated to make predictions this year. At Mugello, we thought that Marquez was going to secure points to get on the podium and continue his show of strength a little bit, and then he showed that he was at the limit and that he was not immune of a dumpling.
As far as we are concerned, and I will not draw conclusions from this, it is quite interesting to take a sort of snapshot of what happened in 2017 and 2018. Obviously, between these 2 years many parameters have changed: Johann was Rookies in 2017, he is no longer Rookies in 2018, etc.
But… Qatar 2017 and 2018, he performed extremely well in both races, even if we know what happened in the race. Argentina 2017 and 2018, he performed very well in both races, even if he had a tire problem in qualifying in 2017. He had a very good race. Texas, damage control and tough. Jerez, magnificent, efficient. Le Mans, magnificent, efficient. Mugello, start of problems, a fall during the session on Saturday is a difficult race.
So it’s something that is still perhaps interesting because we almost have a copy/paste of 2017–2018. That's already one thing.
The 2nd thing, it's true that Johann, with his technical team and with the machine we have at our disposal, were never comfortable in 2017: he always forced himself to deliver performances that were honest. , but which were not of the caliber of what has been done since the start of the 2018 season. At Mugello, already on Friday, he hoped that things would evolve but he tells himself that there, he is already almost in qualifying mode even though it's only Friday. So the performances he did were a little biased. When we arrived, we knew it would be hard but he was very confident. But the reality was that it was like 2017; a difficult Grand Prix where we never really found the keys.
It was indeed the most complicated race in terms of technique and results. But once again, the house is not on fire because we are only 8 points from 2nd position in the championship and we fought with Maverick Viñales throughout the race. Last night, when he was leaving, he told us about the tests he had done in Barcelona, and he said: “don't worry. I'm in good spirits, I'm in good spirits, and in my head I'm certain that we will perform better in Barcelona than what we experienced in Mugello.”
Conversely, the box on Hafizh Syahrin’s side had a smile…
“After the race, and it is logical, all the media spoke first of all about the magnificent victory of Jorge Lorenzo. We wondered if this would happen during his partnership with Ducati, and we found the Jorge Lorenzo of the great era at Yamaha, that is to say starting at the front as he had done during the last races, but above all not only keep the pace but constantly increase your gap with your pursuer. The media then talked about Valentino Rossi's podium and what would happen in the future with Lorenzo, with Iannone, and with the other top guns. Obviously, I understand very well and I have no bitterness at all, but what Hafiz did deserved at least an article. OK, he finished 12th, but I can guarantee you that he had a very, very good race. He started averagely, he once again fought with a whole bunch of drivers more experienced than him and who had less of a handicap than him in terms of engines at Mugello. His bike, whether in aero or engine, is clearly the worst Yamaha. So he suffered a lot but I think he fought really well. He pushed, but without taking too many risks because we saw that the fall was easy. He had a very good race and, above all, he fought during the last 2 laps with Bradley Smith and Tito Rabat, who have machines that are still fighter planes in the stretch. And in the last corner which is hyper technical, he mystified them to finish 12th. Once again, he is first Rookie and has put a good start on his playmate Morbidelli who is the reigning world champion.
It's hard to say what I say to normal people because they will say “What is he telling us? Syahrin finished 12th at Mugello, that’s not bad but it doesn’t break the house either”. But yesterday, I can tell you that he gave a real performance. I think he's learning a lot. This is what I often say: if you have two guys at the foot of the hill, with one carrying the 20 kilo backpack and the other who doesn't, and the one with the backpack back arrives at the same time as the other, you can tell yourself that the day we are going to take away the 20 kg backpack, that could do it. And that's what I told him because, after the race, he told me that it was too difficult with this engine and that he was being put too much, not only in top speed but also with the speed with which you reach top speed. “Complicated, complicated! ". I told him : “Listen Hafizh, it's a year where you learn and fighting with inferior equipment, you learn a lot of things. And if by chance, in the future, you have a machine that will have fewer handicaps, particularly regarding the engine, then things will be easier. So take this season as a rookie season and a learning season, and even if you have frustrations, it's part of what you have to learn and it will make you stronger for the future.". No, I was really very, very happy because, we're not going to talk about it again, but Johann made his misstep at Le Mans because he wanted to recover in the brakes what he lost in acceleration. And when I saw Hafiz fighting with these guys who I know the engine performance of their machines, I said to myself “if he ever wants to compensate too much, it will end flat on his face”. But he managed to control his enthusiasm, stay in contact, want to pass them, and use strategy. He told me that he had evolved enormously in the way he had driven, that he had tried to compensate and understand. All this shows that he is intelligent, and this is also the mission that you give to a pilot during his apprenticeship year. So once again, I am very happy, even if some will say “He needs to stop hitting things because his driver finished 12th.”
Just like, moreover, I was very very happy yesterday to have seen Miguel Oliveira win the Moto2 race. Because, after seeing him win the last 4 races last year, seeing him qualify 11th on the grid, you start scratching your head and you might wonder what's going on. But when you see the start he made, and I saw it again on an on-board camera, when you see the race he made while fighting with Bagnaia, Baldassarri, Mir, Márquez and company, we really had the banana. I am very happy for him because he will also be one of our drivers in 2019.”
Find all of Hervé Poncharal’s other debriefings here!
