Hervé Poncharal undoubtedly hoped for a little more from his drivers in terms of gross results in Buriram. And in particular of a Hafizh Syahrin who found latitudes in Thailand which could have transcended him. We will see that at Sepang perhaps later. The fact remains that the Tech3 KTM team leaves this fifteenth meeting of the season without having collected a single point. However, the French boss is not disappointed and he explains why…
Hervé Poncharal leaves thus from
Thailand with the feeling of work nobly accomplished: “ Overall, it was a positive weekend for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP team in Thailand. It didn't start very well with two crashes on Friday for Miguel, but we knew why and from there we worked very well. Miguel showed a strong and consistent pace and we knew the race would be interesting. As for the tires, everyone chose the same options for the front and rear, but we tried to save the rear tire for the end of the race, in order to be strong and fight until 'at the end. »
“Unfortunately, Miguel Oliveira's shoulder injury is not 100% healed and it is clear that the falls did not help the recovery. I would say the last third of the race was very painful. It's a shame, because that's what cost us a few points. I think it would have been possible to stay near Pol. Anyway, that's how it is. Furthermore, we were overtaken by Iannone to finish in 16th position which is the worst to finish a race. But let's see the glass half full; Miguel is back, he rode well and I hope two weeks of rest will help his shoulder. Japan could be an even more exciting weekend. »
Syahrin, Thailand MotoGP race 2019
“We were hoping that Hafizh would fight with the guys around him on the grid, but after a few laps we clearly understood that was not the case. He wasn't far away, but it's the end of another difficult weekend. I would like to thank KTM for giving it some upgrades, but apparently it didn't help enough. »
“The situation is not easy for him, but we are now going to Japan which means his domestic Grand Prix is getting closer and I think he needs to make an extra effort and focus more on racing. Thailand wasn't a good weekend, but it wasn't bad either. Let's take a few days off and see how we can regroup in Japan. »
MotoGP Thailand Buriram J3: classification
