KTM has often been accused of managing its riders with a certain brutality, particularly in the Tech3 team. At the end of 2021, Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona had to give up their places to Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, who in turn stayed for just one season and then made room for Augusto Fernandez and Pol Espargaro. For 2024, the brand had five drivers and four seats, so Pol was demoted to the role of tester to make room for newcomer Pedro Acosta.
Hervé Poncharal accepts this policy which is sometimes harsh for the drivers, but made necessary by the pressure of results weighing on the manufacturers. “When you decide to do this job, you have to understand that you have to be ready to work under pressure,” explained the Tech3 owner in an interview with Motorsport.com. “You have to understand that if you have reached the top, it was done on merit, but you only stay there if you meet expectations.”
“Obviously, I agree. Sometimes there are drivers who have not been renewed after too short a time, but on the other hand, when you are a manufacturer who spends a lot of money, you have sponsors who are pressing asking where the results are, you can't be soft . Unfortunately, we cannot be romantic.”
“We don't have to respond to expectations immediately, but we have to show signs. I think, as far as I'm concerned, it's very important for a rookie to show an upward progression curve between the first and second motos. Let's be realistic, if you have a rider who you think is strong but you have the opportunity to have one who you think is better, you take the latter.”
Poncharal describes himself as a sentimental leader, he himself experiences some episodes with regret, but he considers it necessary to push this state of mind into the background. KTM's investment justifies the need for immediate change: “Currently, MotoGP is totally different compared to the 500cc era or even the debut of the four-stroke era. When a builder invests large sums of money, it is assumed that he wants to give a strong, positive image, and means to get results. The more you advance, the more you progress, the more pressure you have.”
Pol Espargaró a dû céder sa place après la saison 2023
“Yes, sometimes it's difficult for me, because I'm sentimental. I love the guys, my team. And there are pilots in the team. During a season we share things with the team and the riders: the ups, the downs, the difficulties, the joys, the sadness, the wounds. We faced some falls. This certainly makes you stronger. Of course, you're sad when an adventure ends, but you also have to understand the game as a whole. Sometimes I am told that there is too much pressure on the riders, but don't you think that Pecco Bagnaia or Jorge Martin don't feel the pressure?”
Thus, KTM decided to make Pol Espargaro the main tester, probably taking advantage of the six wild cards granted by the new concession system: “In the end, we proposed to Pol to be part of this group forever, if he likes it. He will have an influence on the technique, which will be important. He will play some races and will still be linked to competitions, but with a little more free time. He has two little girls, it's not a total disaster.”
Less independence, more performance
The choice of Tech3 riders comes above all from the will of KTM, which the Bormes-les-Mimosas team joined in 2019. Previously a Yamaha customer team, Tech3 has become a “B team” for KTM, which has relied on it to promote the GasGas brand since last year. Tech3 has lost a lot of independence but has also gained in terms of performance, obtaining material almost identical to that of the official team, which allowed it to win two races in 2020. Poncharal sees some positive in this new status and in the fact of being able to count on the KTM GP Academy, the very solid network of young riders created by the manufacturer.
“Ten years ago, when we were an independent team, we had technical support but the bikes were two years old. As a result, we had 1,000 rpm less than the factory riders because they wanted to save on the engine. We had to sign contracts with the drivers, so we were more independent, we could be more flexible in choosing drivers, but our situation was difficult because we didn't have a package to win. Today an independent team can fight for the championship, which wouldn't have happened a few years ago.”
The KTM official and Tech3 team disposes of the same machine
“Now we have our own drivers, more and more teams are under contract with the factory, which is much easier because the drivers are happy to all be factory drivers, and they know that their contract will be respected. Sometimes, if a independent team is not paid by sponsors, it can be a little more difficult. Furthermore, we have the same bike as the factory team and 99% of the developments, always.”
“We pushed for more support, more factory involvement in our teams, but in this sense we pushed to lose some independence of our teams. Clearly, at the moment Pierer Mobility is a big group, it has certain markets, has certain drivers of a nationality who support a brand, and I am very honored and proud to be part of this group because they take care of the rookies with Red Bull.”
“They have Moto3 teams, we as Tech3 have one, and Moto2 teams to then move on to MotoGP, so we clearly have this path to get to MotoGP and you can't always argue with that. If they hadn't signed Pedro, he would have wanted go to MotoGP, maybe they would have lost him like they lost Jorge Martín a few years ago. Then he would have gone to Ducati, Aprilia, Yamaha, I don't know. You can't be too naive.
Poncharal accepts this loss of autonomy and the decisions made by KTM, often motivated by the large investments made: “If you want to be totally independent or free, you can't depend on anyone, and that doesn't exist in motorsports. So yes, we are a great group , we share things, we discuss them. Sometimes there may be decisions that from the outside seem harsh or unfair, but there is an explanation, because when you have hundreds of people working in the factory and you go to visit them, you see their impatience. So it is a complete structure and you have to worry about all aspects. We are here because we have five manufacturers who invest. You also have to understand them because they invest for many reasons, but one of them is their passion for racing. Without them, many drivers would not they would be here.”
Interview by Lewis Duncan
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