The Tech3 brand is celebrating 30 years of competing in the world championship and it is a shame that this milestone has been passed in discretion. Blame it on a coronavirus that locked everyone at home. So much so that the MotoGP paddock has not yet had the opportunity to launch its season. But the fact remains that the French have been in the business for three decades. Their boss took away three strong memories. One every ten years!
30 years, that matters in a sporting life and especially at the level of a world championship. In this paddock with heightened challenges, you have to know how to survive and hold your position, two objectives achieved by the French of Tech3. Their boss, Hervé Poncharal remembers three strong moments, one of which was a double world title…
« In 2000, at Phillip Island, we won the championship after an incredible season-long battle between our two drivers Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacques. The incredible finish between Olivier and Shinya was an unforgettable moment, because we not only won the Championship, we did a double and we gave Yamaha the manufacturers' title at a circuit like Phillip Island, which certainly been a very, very, very important moment in our lives. Everyone aims to win the World Championship and we were able to achieve this after incredible work with the entire Yamaha team, our team and our two riders. This season is very special in my memory. »
“Another great day for me was when Yuki Takahashi won the Moto2 race in Catalonia in 2010. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló is very special, the event takes place in the middle of the season, it is a race where there are many spectators, it is always a highlight. This is the first year we used our “homemade” machine, built by Tech3. The guys developing it were the same guys working in MotoGP, so it was a very difficult mission. We had a complicated winter and seeing this bike win and get on the top step of the podium with Takahashi was a very, very special emotion. »
“Winning a world championship race with your bike is incredible”
“We had a small team, we were doing development, parts production and everything else, so it was an incredible mission and one that I will never forget. You build this baby in your garage over the winter, you face a lot of difficulties and then you go and win a World Championship race, it's an incredible event. »
“Finally, there is also, our first podium in the 500cc category with Shinya Nakano, I think it was at Sachsenring 2001. The year before, we were fighting for the 250cc category title and then we move on to the premier category and suddenly we are with the big boys, with the best drivers, with the best crews and then Shinya set the lap record and finished on the podium, which made us all very proud. Especially with Shinya losing the title the year before by just 0,014 seconds, so the first podium in the premier class was also something incredible. I have many other memories, but I guess these three are the best. »
In 2020, the team Tech3 will attack its second season as the manufacturer's satellite team KTM. Miguel Oliveira et Iker Lecuona will be its pilots.
