As we promised you, Hervé Poncharal is kind enough to share his thoughts with us on the evening of each test session.
After the first, the feeling that emerges from the words of the boss of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team can be summed up in three words; work, satisfaction and wisdom. It’s up to you to find out why…
Hervé Poncharal: “I told you that we would provide an update every day and I saw that you had already written an article so, frankly, there is not much to add. However, regarding Tech3, it was interesting to leave Sepang and arrive at Phillip Island which is a very special circuit, with all the bikes, but even more so with a MotoGP, because there are corners and in particular the numbers 1 and 3 which are excessively fast and where you really have to feel your bike and especially its front. You saw that Rossi had spoken about his front. The weather was rather favorable but there was a lot of wind, which is often the case there, and I had therefore given instructions to start working without too much pressure and without focusing on the times. It's a difficult track to learn in MotoGP, very specific, and where there are a lot of very fast places where you quickly make small mistakes with unfortunate consequences. At this level, I'm quite satisfied. Around 15 p.m. local time, Jonas Folger had the sixth fastest time and was quite quickly in very good times. But he expressed that he felt the front a little light in turns 1 and 3 because of the wind. So we didn't try to improve the times, so as not to make a news story, and the guys instead worked on the bike, which did not result in an improvement in the times. As the others improved when the wind calmed down, he went from 6th to 10th, but frankly we don't care a bit, especially when you look at the times: Valentino is the first to say it and so far At the end, he was behind him, then he put on a new tire, which we didn't do. Moreover, if you look at the session analysis sheets, see when the drivers set their best time: Valentino on the 76th lap out of 77, Iannone 68th out of 70, Crutchlow 61st out of 61, Petrucci 87th out of 87, Miller 80th out of 82, etc. Now, if you look at Márquez, Vinales, Dovizioso or Pedrosa, you see that they have not played against the clock and are calmer. This is the case for Jonas.
For Johann, we knew before going to Phillip Island that it was not his favorite circuit. As much as he loves Sepang, he has never had much success in Australia. He therefore started very calmly then gained momentum as the session progressed. But what I like, OK he's a bit behind Folger, is that he's positive. You remember that the first day in Valencia and the first day in Sepang, we felt he was a little tense. But there, certainly he is not in the very first ranks but in a completely honorable place since the second rookie behind Folger, but above all he is happy because he has been there crescendo, he has taken his time, he is gained momentum and he is satisfied. For me it is very important. »
You're talking about a front end that's a bit light in fast corners for Folger. Is this due to the lack of fins?
“Yes and no, since Rossi, who toured with his new fairing, complained about it too. But it sure would help and this is more obvious at Phillip Island with its layout and its climatic conditions. On the other hand, with our two Rookies, we have plenty of other things to do to progress. »
Do you have any idea if and when you will have the new fairings?
" No. No idea. We'll see if we get them in Qatar but for now, we're focusing on the present. Everything went well, there were no crashes, everyone worked well and we are on schedule with what we wanted to do. Today was the discovery of Phillip Island with a MotoGP and it was done with satisfactory times. I am very happy with the way the technical team and the drivers are working. The weather forecast seems rather favorable, and there are still two days left to try to do as many laps as possible, to be able to leave Phillip Island with two riders who will be much more “MotoGP” riders than when they arrived. And it is there, for learning the category, that we see that it is very good that we go to three completely different circuits.
Obviously, everyone is focused on the ranking at 17:45 p.m. at Phillip Island. But you have to look at how the times were done, with a new tire or not. If Folger had changed to a new tire at the end of the session, he would be much higher in the standings, and the positive comments would be pouring in. But we are happy, we have worked well, we are here, we continue to go our own way without making too much noise, because we want to show everyone, our partners and Yamaha technical support, that we work well, that we are serious, that we deserve to look at the four Yamahas and not just the two blue ones. We play the game, we work in our corner but seriously, without making untimely declarations, without putting ourselves on the ground every three rounds, which has sometimes been the case in the recent past. We are on schedule, so congratulations to Jonas and congratulations to Johann!
Our goal is for our two drivers to be, as was the case in previous tests, within a maximum of one second of the best times on the third day of testing. »
So to get a real idea of the potential of your drivers, how much should you subtract from their times?
“I don't have precise figures to give you but let's say around half a second. We will see on the third day what happens. »
Be careful on the third day, because the weather forecast is a little worse than for the previous two…
" Yes. But if we don't do it, we don't care! At some point, you have to be strong in your head. If we leave Australia having worked well but without having been able to achieve an exceptional time, our objective will be achieved. Before we return to Phillip Island, it will be October, and by then the tires will have evolved just like the motorcycles.
Above all, you have to arrive in good shape and with a lot of kilometers under your belt at the Qatar tests, fine-tune the Qatar tests, and strike a nice blow, I didn't say a big blow, at the first Grand Prix. That's the important thing. We will have forgotten everything else when we are in Qatar on Sunday evening. »
Words of the wise! Thank you Hervé, and see you tomorrow…
| Pos | Pile | Team | Chrono | Difference | Laps | |
| 1 | MARCHEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 1:29.497 | 53 / 68 | ||
| 2 | Rossi, Valentine | Yamaha Motor Racing | 1:29.683 | 0.186 | 76 / 77 | |
| 3 | P | IANNON, Andrew | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:29.926 | 0.429 | 68 / 70 |
| 4 | P | VIÑALES, Maverick | Yamaha Motor Racing | 1:29.989 | 0.492 | 26 / 64 |
| 5 | P | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Honda LCR | 1:30.065 | 0.568 | 61 / 61 |
| 6 | P | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:30.262 | 0.765 | 87 / 87 |
| 7 | P | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 1:30.281 | 0.784 | 13 / 55 |
| 8 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrew | Ducati Team | 1:30.410 | 0.913 | 16 / 64 | |
| 9 | MILLER, Jack | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:30.426 | 0.929 | 80 / 82 | |
| 10 | P | Folger, Jonas | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:30.578 | 1.081 | 30 / 62 |
| 11 | P | LORENZO, Jorge | Ducati Team | 1:30.631 | 1.134 | 33 / 61 |
| 12 | P | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:30.770 | 1.273 | 24 / 68 |
| 13 | BARBERA, Hector | Royal Esponsorama Racing | 1:30.771 | 1.274 | 7 / 51 | |
| 14 | P | Espargaro, Aleix | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:30.802 | 1.305 | 26 / 28 |
| 15 | P | ZARCO, Johann | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:30.867 | 1.370 | 77 / 80 |
| 16 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:31.179 | 1.682 | 17 / 61 | |
| 17 | ESPARGARÓ, Pol | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:31.200 | 1.703 | 54 / 59 | |
| 18 | P | BAZ, Loris | Royal Esponsorama Racing | 1:31.249 | 1.752 | 56 / 60 |
| 19 | P | Rins, Alex | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:31.432 | 1.935 | 66 / 66 |
| 20 | REDDING, Scott | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:31.755 | 2.258 | 33 / 59 | |
| 21 | LOWES, Sam | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:32.307 | 2.810 | 15 / 35 | |
| 22 | P | SMITH, Bradley | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:32.690 | 3.193 | 43 / 57 |
