Hervé Poncharal is preparing for the last two Grands Prix as owner of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, after which the MotoGP team will be transferred to the ownership of the investor group of South Tyrolean Günther Steiner. At the last three Grands Prix, the injured Maverick Viñales was replaced by test rider Pol Espargaró, and Enea Bastianini achieved three respectable results in the last four Grands Prix on Sundays: 11th place at Motegi, 9th place at Phillip Island, and 7th place at Sepang.
But "Bestia" keeps ruining much better results with disappointing qualifying performances and poor grid positions. However, the collaboration with his new crew chief Xavi Palacin has stabilized. The Spaniard stepped in as chief mechanic for the 27-year-old Bastianini at short notice after the Catalunya GP following the surprising departure of crew chief Alberto "Pigiamino" Giribuola, who will be working with Toprak Razgatlioglu at Pramac Ducati in future.
But Poncharal also witnessed that Pedro Acosta has earned a total of 65 points and four podium finishes on the KTM RC16 in the last three Grands Prix – two on Saturday and two on Sunday. This makes fifth place in the championship (33 points ahead of Morbidelli) virtually unassailable.
"I'm very impressed when I see what Pedro Acosta is capable of with the KTM," Poncharal said in an exclusive interview with GPOne.com. “He’s always fought for top positions in the last few Grands Prix, both in practice and in the races. That’s a huge motivation for the other KTM riders because they see how competitive this bike is. The RC16 is a very powerful motorcycle. Sometimes Aprilia is the second strongest force, sometimes KTM.”
“And as for Enea, we know his potential; he demonstrates it almost every Sunday, sometimes even in the Sprint. But he could achieve even better results in the races if he could improve on a single time attack lap. Every Friday, we see long faces in our garage, and that hasn’t changed even after the crew chief change", Poncharal added. "Enea knows that the other KTM riders improve significantly with a fresh set of tires, but he can’t manage that. Enea isn’t complaining about his bike; he’s aware that he has to look for the problem within himself. He needs to develop a better feel for the time attack. Because in Sepang, he moved up from P19 to P7 on Sunday and put in some very interesting lap times. Imagine what he could achieve if he makes it into the top six in qualifying; the situation in the races would look completely different. We remember Catalunya: Enea started from ninth on the grid and then finished third on Sunday! We're currently doing everything we can to give Enea more confidence with fresh tires."
But that's a task that will take time, because even in his four years with Ducati, qualifying was always a weak point for the seven-time MotoGP winner.
"This is Eneas' first year with KTM, and he now understands that he needs to improve his time attack quality, because this weakness sometimes also prevented him from achieving better performances at Ducati," Poncharal notes. "It's primarily a question of confidence. We, as a team, have to help him find that confidence. Enea often proves on Sundays how competitive the KTM is and that he has the benefit of a good package. I hope Enea can improve further in Portimão and Valencia. And Pedro impressively demonstrates what can be squeezed out of the KTM with new tires. He is by far the best KTM representative. Nobody can dispute that.”
In the first half of the season, Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider Maverick Viñales regularly managed to perform as the best KTM rider. For example, with his second place in Qatar, which was, however, nullified due to a tire pressure infringement.
Poncharal: “Maverick was the best rider of the KTM quartet several times. And although Maverick almost never crashes and therefore almost never missed a race due to injury, he suffered a persistent shoulder injury in the rain at the beginning of Q2 at the Sachsenring. We all know that the healing of ligaments and tendons often takes much longer than a broken bone. I think he made the right decision when he interrupted his comeback again after the pointless Japanese GP. Maverick wasn't able to push as hard as he had hoped. It was probably a slight mistake to get back on the MotoGP KTM so quickly. And thanks to substitute rider Pol Espargaró, we were still able to race at a very high level. Pol is such a wonderful person! I'm not exaggerating. He's bursting with passion and enthusiasm. And he's fast! Before the Australian GP, Pol had actually planned a vacation with his wife Carlota in New York, but he immediately agreed to participate in Phillip Island and fly to Melbourne. It's also helpful for Enea to see what Pol is capable of, as he's now made it straight into Q2 several times. That's impressive for a test rider. It's a stroke of luck for KTM that we have Pol."
Maverick Viñales has been working hard for days at the Red Bull Athletic Performance Center in Thalgau near Salzburg to get back in shape. "He's very happy with his progress. A few days ago, Maverick trained on a 600cc bike; it felt quite good. Tomorrow, Friday, he'll even try a 1000cc to put his injured shoulder through a real stress test with an even more powerful bike", Poncharal explains. “A decision will be made this coming weekend or on Monday as to whether Maverick will be available to race in Portimão. We all hope so. But we also understand that it only makes sense if he can perform at 100 percent of his potential.”