The Red Bull KTM Tech3 colors had been erased by the more official ones from the Mattighofen factory during qualifying, but in the race, they played practically the same score. It was even close to a good overall result giving them a certain advantage. But Iker Lecuona wasted the opportunity to take a more than honorable sixth position. Hervé Poncharal takes stock and he is happy to see his team still evolving on the good synergy created by the victory acquired in Styria...
Hervé Poncharal and the team Tech3 leave Misano where they had taken up residence for two successive weekends with a smile. “ Finally, we had a very positive day on Sunday in Misano for the Gran Premio Tissot dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini » comments the French boss. “ Although qualifying once again did not live up to our expectations, it is clear that we knew our race pace was strong. We were just hoping for a good start and finally halfway through the first lap Miguel was in a good position and we recovered a lot ».
« Iker was in front of him, so we were really happy” explains Hervé. “From that moment on we kept our heads down, Miguel and Iker both had a great race. Iker led the first half of the race and Miguel overtook him. We were happy, because Iker was able to follow Miguel and try to rest a little. Ultimately, Miguel crossed the finish line in fifth position, which is an excellent result ».
“We are the first KTM in the championship”
« We are the first KTM in the championship, which is a great source of pride for us. But we can't be 100% happy, because Iker was right behind him. Being three seconds ahead of the guy behind him and with less than three laps to go, he made a mistake and crashed, which is very unfortunate ».
« This would have been a great team result, fifth and sixth, by far the best result for Iker this year. Either way, poor Iker is devastated and he is so angry with himself. I don't want to add anything. He had a great weekend and a great race until two laps from the end ».
« Let's take the positives, they were fifth and sixth with three laps to go, Miguel gets the 11 points for fifth position, KTM is on the podium today with Pol Espargaro and we are still closing the gap. No matter the track. Thanks to all the guys in the Red Bull KTM Tech3 garage, thanks to everyone working in Mattighofen to push and develop the KTM RC16. Just a few days and we're in Barcelona for the next race, so let's keep our heads down, let's rest and keep the good vibes, which are in the team right now ". See you next weekend!
MotoGP Misano 2 J3: classification
