After three decades in the MotoGP World Championship paddock, Ramón Forcada, one of the most respected team leaders, now works alongside Franco Morbidelli in the Petronas Yamaha SRT team.
However, it is the Repsol press service who offers us this interview translated here into French.
In 1989, Álex Crivillé won the 125cc World Championship on a JJ Cobas with the support of Repsol. Ramón Forcada enjoyed his rookie season with this team, and 30 years later, he is still competing in the Motorcycling World Championship and has experienced the evolution of the competition up close. Currently chief mechanic of Franco Morbidelli, he has worked with drivers such as Crivillé, Sito Pons, Alberto Puig, John Kocinski, Alex Barros and Jorge Lorenzo.
You arrived at the World Championship in the 80s. What do you remember about that time and your first races at Grand Prix level?
“My arrival is the result of the great season that Álex Crivillé had. After leaving Derbi, iThey started a new project with JJ Cobas and started winning races, so they saw the possibility of winning the World Championship. I came to work on engines
on the test bench. I remember that my arrival was made possible thanks to Repsol, who came on board as a sponsor and provided the necessary funds to do this work.”
What did it mean to you to reach the World Championship in 1989 and win the title the same year with Crivillé?
“Winning the title was incredible. That first year I was working with Álex's engines, and I could see things going well. Álex won the title, which was not expected when he was hired by JJ Cobas.”
Many of you shared a mentor, engineer Antonio Cobas. What do you think is left of these years?
“Cobas has defined a new era in the motorcycle world championship. He had a very calm and open character. He told you exactly what he thought and never set limits. He always said “you'll never know how something works until you try it. Even if the project is far-fetched, what you have to do is try it.” The frames we use now are the result of his ideas and it's a shame he left us so soon. With the changes that the World Championship is going through, with a category like Moto2 and its single engine for all the teams, I am convinced that if Antonio were there, there would be a Cobas in the Moto2 World Championship.”
Beyond the breakthrough in electronics, where does the greatest development come from?
“Everything has evolved. The tires have changed a lot, the power has increased under control and the aerodynamics have continued to evolve. The geometry is what I think has changed the least, because the bike moves with a series of forces that control it and make it work, and these have remained the same: the weight is the same and there is always has two wheels, the same lean when cornering, etc. As for the World Championship, it has become very professional; "Obviously a lot has changed and he's taken a step forward, for better or for worse, but that's the price you pay to have a World Championship like it is now."
What memories do you have of life in the paddock in the 1980s and 1990s?
“The paddock has changed a lot. Before, it was like a family: There were no structures this big and all the teams traveled by truck or bus. In our case, it was a “used” coach with a camping tent. There was camaraderie and no one was in a hurry to finish. I remember one of the big differences was that after training the teams would chat and even eat together, not in the reception areas, but in the box, with other people. Given the condition of the bikes, you knew that every day you would finish later than midnight. If you had an accident or problem, it was not unusual to continue working until the next day.”
Are teams spending more or fewer hours working now?
“Now they spend many hours working on the circuit. There are still days when you spend between 14 and 16 hours in the box. Everything has been professionalized, including the operation inside the garage. When the testing is finished, you try to give the mechanics a list of everything that needs to be done, to start as soon as possible. Before, it was a little more relaxed.”
You have worked in 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, 990cc, 800cc and 1000cc. What do you prefer ?
“Each category has something good and something bad. The bike I remember most fondly is the Honda NSR 500. Then there was the 990cc, the first MotoGP bike, which was a five-cylinder four-stroke. It was a simply spectacular engine: very simple, with brilliant construction, without a lot of technology. It was a classic engine that worked very well.”
Two-stroke or four-stroke?
“For me it's definitely the two-stroke, because for a mechanic it's a different world. You had a lot more variables; no one used an engine that hadn't been modified. Everyone was making their changes; sometimes you gained power and sometimes you lost power, but you always worked on it. Nowadays, no one touches engines, among other things because it's forbidden. Four-stroke motorcycles have a lot of tuning work, electronic or mechanical, but there is little manual work. There are few things you can do with your hands. When we were working on two-strokes, even if it was a factory bike, everyone did their own thing. Every day you had to remove the stools and look at the pistons etc. ".
You also knew a lot of pilots. What do you think is the most important thing in the technician-pilot relationship?
“The important thing in the technician-pilot relationship is, above all, technical trust. There's nothing better for a pilot than being able to explain to your technician what's going on and being confident that he or she will fix it. For the technician it's the same: if you know that the rider can explain to you what he really felt on the bike and is clear about what he needs to go fast, it helps you to immediately take the right direction. Mutual trust is important.”
What memories come to mind about your time with the Repsol Honda Team with Alex Barros?
“When Barros was in the team, the results never really came. He had an operation in the winter, we missed the whole pre-season, and when the season started the results weren't what was expected. Above all, what I remember best is the relationship with the team. I was only there for a year, but we already knew each other, since we had Repsol as a second sponsor in other teams, and I still have this great relationship with many people in the team. It’s been 15 years and it’s still going.”
The World Championship has changed a lot. What are you missing and what do you have now that you wish you had when you started?
“I miss a lot of things. The technical plan and the manual side of things. The things that you did, that you were able to invent and test, which is now impossible because of the way the motorcycle works. When I started, I would have liked to have been able to invent more things, because the problem with test benches and when you develop a motorcycle is that you break a lot of things, because everything doesn't work. not. For small teams, like JJ Cobas when I started, it was difficult. It was done and well done since we won the World Championship, but we still had to avoid the risk of an engine exploding, because it was a big problem for the team. I also wish I could travel as easily as I do today. When I started, you had to use a van or a car, which meant spending a lot of time away from home, crossing borders, etc. Now it’s easier to go home.”
