Management of tire pressures and temperatures, new Michelin compounds, carbon frame and angle grip Peter Acosta, so many questions that we asked Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager of the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team who drives the sensational rookie in MotoGP.
Another subject of interest, because here you are really pioneers, this is the first year where you ride with carbon frames, more on an experimental basis but on a regular basis. From memory, there were small falls during testing: how did it go? What is the procedure after a fall?
“It’s true that it remains quite new and at Pierer Mobility, no one yet has quite the necessary perspective to have complete peace of mind regarding this new material. So what happens is that we have fairly strict chassis verification protocols. Roughly speaking, as soon as there is a notable problem, a fall or something like that, we have the order to have the chassis checked. So it's certain that for the technicians, it's still much more restrictive than before, because it forces you to dismantle much more often and possibly change chassis much more than before. SO
all with the idea of gaining experience. And then, little by little, I imagine that if we don't have any major concerns, we will relax when it comes to these checks Also. If you look closely, we experienced a similar pattern when we had the first carbon arms, well there it's the same. It was something new at the beginning, we were very, very restrictive on the mileage, on the checks, et cetera, and then we gained experience and we realized that we could in certain cases a can relax. So it is certain that in the event of a big crash, we will always dismantle it to have it sent for inspection. There,
they do x-rays at home and a whole bunch of analyzes to check it, then if everything is good, they send it back to us.”
Do the checks take place in Austria?
“Yes, for the most part, yes. They are sent to Austria because This requires in particular X-rays and equipment that we don’t necessarily have on the circuits.”
It's interesting because in this area too KTM is still a pioneer, even if there have already been attempts, notably at Ducati with carbon chassis ends, without much success...
"Yes it's sure. Afterwards, you know the history. This first chassis, he appeared in the race on Pedrosa's wild card bike at Misano, with the result that we know, that is to say that he finished 4th, so a great result for a wild card. The next day, everyone had tests, so this chassis was tested by the factory drivers, with a result that was more than promising. Well, we also have to keep reason, it's certain that Pedrosa having finished 4th the day before, it's certain that being on top you're not going to say “Ah no, that doesn't work” (laughing). But you see, sometimes the story is still quite incredible, because I think that if Pedrosa had fallen, maybe this chassis would have only appeared next year or even later, I don't know. But hey, it turns out that he finished 4th.
The pilots tried it the next day, they found it effective and they pushed hard to get it. But in no case was it planned to bring this chassis during the 2023 season.
But ahead we are going to say the good results, the good performances, of this equipment, the pilots pushed hard and at the factory everything was called into question a little, all the rage, to try to provide it, then first to a pilot, then to a 2nd pilot. They had one and one, in terms of chassis, and then as the end of the season progressed, they started to bring spare parts, et cetera, and that's the reason why we didn't get it, because no one was ready for this change. And there, in winter, a big effort was made to also provide it to the Factory team of which we are part."
We're not going to make you talk about Acosta's performances which bring you immense joy and energy, but about him we noticed that he was the only KTM rider to strongly rub his lower fairing edges. The boy is not particularly heavy, on the contrary, so why?
“No, it's not heavy, but there is something notable in its handling. Besides, you were certainly able to see it through certain interviews with your friends, it is thathe puts an incredible angle!"
Is it angle, not compression?
"It's not that. So, I think there are really two parameters. The first is the angle because it’s true that it really sets a fairly significant angle. He has a very unique driving style, and most drivers agree that there is something to learn: he drives like no one else drives his machine. That's one thing, and secondly it's also a bit about the settings. This means that if, for example, you decide to have the rear of the bike quite low, you will tend to rub the fairings more easily. So I would say that the other parameter is all of the settings of his machine, so there is nothing extreme, but all of the settings, which means that perhaps it affects him a little more than the others. But everyone touched, eh, everyone touched more or less! Everyone touched because what happens is that in Portimao you activate the ride height device, so you lower the rear of the bike, and at a given moment you have a compression, well a small bump, and on this bump you keys. This is the specificity of this circuit, and we may not find it elsewhere in the championship. So you have this little bump where everyone hits more or less, but it's certain that Acosta, in that place,
it's the one that touched the most, that's clear. "
And that didn't worry you, because the lower fairing must serve as an oil cover in the event of a leak?
“Yes, that worried us and we took measures to alleviate this problem. This means that during the weekend of the Portuguese Grand Prix, we intervened and we did things on the lower fairing to stay within the rules. "
