For the older among us, Jacques Roca is a surname inseparably linked to the former 7-time French champion driver who produced kits to improve Suzukis, whether they be polyester saddle-tank sets. or performance parts. “Maître Jacques”, as he was respectfully called, an atypical cycling champion who successfully switched to motorcycles, of whom you can find a summary of his career on the site Bike70.
From left to right, Angel Nieto (3), Jan Tennis Huberts (1), Jacques Roca (4), Francesc Tombas and Josep Maria Busquets (2), Derbi team, 1964 Spanish Grand Prix 50 cc
But today, Jacques Roca is also the name of a technician from the Suzuki Ecstar team who officiates in MotoGP, his son... How, in these conditions, can you not want to know more about his journey which was however far from being written in advance?
After working for 2 years with Andrea Iannone, Jacques Roca is today at the dawn of a new adventure, with the promising rookie Joan Mir.
So here you are in the world championship with Jorge Lorenzo in 125cc. We imagine that the rest was all planned out…
“At that time, we were allowed 2 motorcycles per pilot, the second being a bit of a spare motorcycle. I was rushing to do my job on the first bike and then going to work on the 2nd. So I took care of the tires, I cleaned the radiator or cleaned the exhaust on the first, to go do things that interested me more on the second, such as changing a piston. The mechanics immediately saw that I liked it and they let me do it.
In 2004, Gigi Dall'Igna arrived and, in the end, he replaced Olivier Liégeois. He was the big boss. At the end of the year, Dani Amatriain put Lorenzo in his 250cc team and the mechanics went everywhere. As a result, the team fell apart and I had an interview with Gigi. He asked me what I was going to do the following season and I told him that I had been offered a place as a mechanic's assistant in the Lotus team in 250. He then told me: “know that this is just a team. This is a factory. There, you don't know the future, but here, you will have work for many years.". I, very young and pretentious, told him that I wanted to be a mechanic, and more of a mechanic's helper. He accepted without problem.
So in 2005, I worked as a mechanic for Pablo Nieto, and as I was the only one on the team to stay, I was the only one who knew how we worked on the Derbi (editor's note: the Aprilias were different) or how we loaded the truck. So, in one year, I had a lot of responsibilities. At the end of the year, the Derbi team released the RSA with a central rotary valve, with Jan Thiel and Gigi Dall'Igna, and we did the last race in Valencia with it. My father, who was still alive, was proud that I got there without his help...
In 2006, as the Piaggio group had bought Aprilia and Derbi, and I was originally a Derbi mechanic, Gigi moved me around as he wanted in the various official teams of the Piaggio group. There I was at Gilera with Rossano Brazzi as technical director and Simone Corsi as driver. But as he was coming down from the 250 and wasn't really in the race, we were treated to a simple RSV. I learned to work on it.
In 2007, I was with Nico Térol and a Derbi which was in fact just an Aprilia RSV.
In 2008, it was the first time I worked with Aleix Espargaró, in 250 cc. I knew him in the 125cc Spanish championship and, at the time, he was a little kid who did stupid things every 4 mornings. The 250 was really a great machine: you changed your piston every day, you changed your crankshaft every 2 races. It was real mechanics and you finished late at night. Today, with the 4-stroke, it's different and much easier. This year was also important for the future, in terms of my bond with Aleix. This is where I really started to understand how it worked.
In 2009, I moved back to 125cc with Efrén Vázquez on a Derbi RSA and I continued in 2010 with Pol Espargaró. It was a great year because we fought with Marc Márquez for the championship.
In 2011, I returned as first mechanic with Aleix Espargaró who rode for Pons Racing in Moto2. We didn't do much because the level was quite high and came from a difficult year with stints in MotoGP at Pramac but also periods without riding since the Amatriain team had closed at the last minute.
In 2012, he asked me to go with him to Aspar but the project was quite vague. As I was no longer under contract with Derbi, I preferred to stay at Pons with Pol Espargaró.
In 2012, we continued to fight with Marc Márquez and we won the Moto2 world championship in 2013.
As usual, Aleix was still in the box and asked me to go with him next year because he had a very good project.
He explained it to me and therefore took me with him to MotoGP at Forward with the Yamaha Open in 2014. We had great results despite the cycle part which was a patchwork. We spent our days filing or cutting. You had to be a real mechanic because despite all that, we didn't have any breakdowns.
But it was only an entry point into MotoGP, because in 2013 he decided to go to Suzuki. He promised to take me with him and he did. At Suzuki! Which was the brand I had been immersed in since my childhood!
When I had my interview with Suzuki, it was very moving…”.
Obviously, you were thinking of your father...
“Of course, he had died since 2007, but he would have been proud of me. It would have made me happy if he saw that, because I started with Derbi and I am now at Suzuki, and he had done the same thing.”
At Suzuki, what did you start with?
“I started with the Test team. There were only 2 mechanics with Tom O'Kane, plus a Japanese mechanic. We had good results, just like Maverick Viñales who progressed very well. The following year, we struggled a bit with the Michelin casings. We ended up finding adjustments but they didn't keep Aleix because the contracts were signed at the start of the year, when he was struggling. On the other hand, Aleix was very correct because when he signed with Aprilia, he took me aside and explained to me that he was not asking me to follow him, since he considered Suzuki to be a better team than Aprilia. He didn't want to be selfish and thought of me first. I really thanked him because it’s thanks to him if I’m in MotoGP today.”
Then Andrea Iannone arrived…
" Yes. In 2017, I was made official chief mechanic for his arrival because, in practice, it was already me who organized a lot of things. Maybe age also played a role, because I was the youngest and the most dynamic.”
After 2017 which was a bit laborious, 2018 brought some relief to your heart…
" Yes. With Viñales, Suzuki had managed to achieve very good results. Then, we found ourselves with two riders who didn't know the bike, including a rookie and Iannone who came from a completely different bike. We started to get lost, and we got lost, either with things he told us, or with things we thought. The responsibility was shared, and in the meantime Rins was hurt and the Test Team was also lost. We all went in the wrong direction and had difficulty getting back on the right line. At the end of 2017, we started to get good results again, Top 5s. And in 2018, with all the experience of what not to do, we managed to make a motorcycle that works. It lacked a little top speed but it was manageable, and for their part, the drivers began to understand it well.”
Here ends this first interview which retraces a beautiful story whose continuation is still to be written, this time alongside Joan mir. We will not fail to postpone it, thanking Jacques Roca greatly for the time he gave us.
