Hervé Poncharal and his Tech3 troops left their France in the process of reconfinement to head towards Spain which is not in much better shape. Objective, the Valencia track, which has been on the Grand Prix calendar since 1999 and which previously welcomed up to 150 spectators worldwide. This time, it will be in front of empty stands. For the KTM partner team, there will also be the particularity of having in the box, for once, an Iker Lecuona more experienced than Miguel Oliveira. And here’s why…
Last year, in fact, during the last Grand Prix of the season in Valencia, Iker Lecuona debuted in MotoGP on a KTM which Miguel Oliveira then looked from afar. The Portuguese was then busy recovering from a delicate shoulder operation. The Spaniard, an absolute rookie, will therefore not be the beginner on this track with the RC16, unlike his Portuguese elder.
This particularity noted, the boss Hervé Poncharal thus approaches a deadline which will mark the start of a new, but also last series of three Grands Prix in as many consecutive weeks… “ This is Valencia, where we will have two races in a row on the same circuit. Valencia will be the first of the last treble of our 2020 MotoGP World Championship, which started almost yesterday » begins the Frenchman. “ It was very quick, but a lot has happened since then. I think we should be happy and proud to be in the top 10 of the provisional MotoGP ranking with Miguel and to have had exciting races with Iker as a rookie ».
Good momentum since Teruel
« Of course, we hope that these last three races will be as good as the last one in Teruel, Aragon, where we finally got some good results with Miguel in P6 and Iker in P9. Valencia is always a difficult circuit with a MotoGP bike. We couldn't run there with Miguel last year because of his shoulder injury. But it was a first event in the premier category for Iker » confirms Hervé Poncharal.
« So we are going to head into the unknown with the KTM in Valencia and if we see the progress we have made since last year, I think we should be much more competitive. The goal is still to fight for the top 8, which is a reasonable goal. I hope the weather will be on our side. We are now entering the month of November, which is likely to be cold and even wet ».
« Regardless, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team is very excited to enter the final stretch of our championship. Let's try to be competitive from Friday morning, during the first test session, with our two drivers » ends the tricolor whose pilot Miguel Oliveira is in the running with the official KTM Pol Espargaro to present himself in the general classification of the championship as the first driver of the Mattighofen brand.
