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Before the MotoGP season started in Buriram (Thailand), Red Bull Tech3 team owner Hervé Poncharal was aware that his KTM RC16 newcomers, Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales, would struggle to get into the top ten in the first races after just six test days, given their strenght, with six fast Ducati riders and the impressive test results by KTM's Acosta and Aprilia's aces. "Our first goal will be to get as close to Brad Binder as possible."
Finally, last Sunday, Enea Bastianini stormed from 20th place on the grid to 9th place, while Maverick Viñales only finished 16th due to a less than optimal choice of tires.
Hervé, what's your take after the start of the season in Buriram? Enea Bastianini's performance and improvement were impressive.
"Yes, he almost moved up to eighth place."
He only lost 0.124 seconds to Brad Binder, who's competing in his sixth season on the RC16. So the "Bestia" met your hopes?
"Enea was in front of Brad's last braking zone on Sunday. But Brad took a lot of risks, and Enea said to me afterwards, 'I gave in because I didn't want both KTM riders to fall in the last corner of the last lap', and it didn't matter much. A ninth place was fine."
Was it important for your team to see that Enea and Maverick are making progress in getting used to the KTM? Maverick has already achieved a 9th place in the tests.
"There's still a lot of work ahead of us, but I'm still relieved that Enea has made significant progress in Thailand. The team has worked hard to make him feel more comfortable on the RC16. I don't want to announce to the world that we'll soon be able to perform miracles and fight for top-three results. As always, we're going to work with a modest attitude.
But that doesn't stop us from being confident, because what happened to Enea in the second half of the race in Thailand isn't only important for me, personally, but also for KTM's MotoGP project.
Not only in the entire 2024 season, but also in the three winter tests, one KTM rider clearly stood out. Pedro Acosta. He was on our team last year. He really did wonders as a rookie, achieving a total of nine podiums.
Pedro was always the fastest KTM rider, the other three KTM riders suffered in the winter, especially the two KTM newcomers who came from another manufacturer. Enea came from Ducati, and all the riders there have been competitive for some time. They have a very competitive technical package. That's a clear feature of this brand.
And it was never our idea that only one rider at KTM would be successful with the bike and get the maximum potential out of the RC16. Enea Bastianini, who has a completely different riding style than Pedro, I'd almost say is the complete opposite. And, if it now becomes clear that Enea can also achieve great results in the foreseeable future, then that's the best news we could wish for.
We're looking forward to the fact that you can get to the top with the KTM using different riding styles, including Brad Binder, Maverick Viñales, and Enea Bastianini."
Bastianini only managed a 20th place in qualifying. In the Sprint, he arrived 24 seconds behind the winner after 13 laps and, on Sunday, after 26 laps, he was only 20 seconds behind. How did he improve so much on Sunday?
"I had dinner with Enea on Sunday before we flew back to Europe. He told me that he rode very aggressively in the first part of the race, often attacking very hard in the braking zones to make up positions. Enea told me that was a mistake because he kept making mistakes with that riding style.
After halfway through, he forced himself to calm down and lso decided on a gentler engine map. As the tires were wearing down a bit in the second half of the race, he had to ride much more carefully and gently.
What happened next made Enea very happy. He was able to overtake eleven times, all in the second half of the race. Enea also realized that he was able to use his long-standing strength, namely, his high speed and performance when the tires were wearing down, in his first Grand Prix on the KTM.
Until now, he thought he had only been able to use this strength on the Ducati. My conclusion is we finished in ninth place. I don't want to say that we caused the world to riot, but we made good progress."
Did you also notice that Enea and his long-time crew chief, Alberto Giribuola, who came to KTM from Ducati for 2023, are an extremely well-rehearsed team?
"Yes, we saw what they achieved at Gresini Racing in 2022, when Enea finished third in the World Championship as a MotoGP rookie and celebrated four GP victories. It's good that KTM is listening to what Giribuola and Enea are saying. It certainly makes sense if there are different set-ups or technology packages for the riders."
What can you expect from your Tech3 protégés at the Grand Prixs in Argentina and Texas before we come to Jerez at the end of April?
"All the riders said after Buriram that they were looking forward to a different track, because we had the Grand Prix in Thailand four months ago, then the test in February and the start of the season a week ago.
Enea and Maverick are still newbies on the KTM. Also, we haven't ridden in Las Termas since 2023. The KTM RC16 has changed a lot since then. The Argentina GP will be interesting.
We're very curious to see how competitive the RC16 will be there and what the four KTM riders can achieve in this second Grand Prix of the season.
So far, Pedro is the benchmark for the other KTM riders. But, if our other riders also feel comfortable, they can push and get closer to Pedro and achieve our goals."
