During the Yamaha presentation ahead of the 2018 MotoGP campaign, Valentino Rossi had a thought for Iwata's satellite team, Tech3, which must deal with the last minute defection of a unfortunately unwell Jonas Folger. An uncomfortable situation for the French team which immediately mobilized a Yonny Hernandez with proven category experience. And who will have a card to play to stay beyond the Sepang tests this weekend…
On this situation, the Doctor's first thought is for the pilot: " This is bad news, especially for him, because he really seems to have a serious problem. It's a shame, he's very young and he showed his ability to be fast in MotoGP ". And notably during his national Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, where he challenged for victory at Márquez to the checkered flag.
Then Vale speaks of the troopsHervé Poncharal : " This situation is also complicated for him and his Tech3 team because at this stage it will be difficult to find a good driver for the M1. It's a good bike that deserves a good rider... You can only find this rider in a small group still free from any commitment. I don't know who it will be, but I'm curious to find out ».
The one who holds the rope is the Colombian Yonny Hernandez on which Hervé Poncharal said on motogp.com : " As of January 20, almost all the pilots have already been signed. So I'm very happy to have found Yonny. I know he has plans and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Pedercini for releasing him for the Test and letting him try the Yamaha M1. I am delighted to give him the opportunity to ride during these three days and demonstrate his potential to both Yamaha Motor Corporation and Monster Yamaha Tech3. No decision regarding the permanent driver will be made until we return from Sepang. Of course we will analyze Yonny’s performances in detail during these three days and obviously he is one of the drivers on our short list for 2018.”
