The MotoGP French GP was not without action and controversies on the asphalt, and to whom it seemed little, he also has to entertain himself with some statements that were said afterwards, especially those of ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia. The Italian once again expressed his concern about the number of incidents that are being seen this season and He proposed to increase the difference between the official motorcycles and the satellites, something that many of those involved in the World Championship did not like at all, such as Herve Poncharal, head of Tech3 and president of IRTA.
First, let’s review what Bagnaia says: “A driver who is behind, and perhaps has no potential, wants to pass six drivers in one lap and it doesn’t work like that. The incidents happen mostly in the first part of the race, probably because there is too much emotion. We should do something to improve the situation, it’s not safe like that, It is not the best. From the first to the last bike, everyone can win, there are no longer those six or seven tenths that there were before between the factory bikes and the customers, which I think were needed”.
“Fantastic 4 (Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa) they came about because they were stronger, but they had factory bikes. The others were quite far behind because they did not have the potential to be ahead on a technical level. Now the level is extreme, everything is pushed to the limit. Anyone can win, Augusto Fernández was fourth (at Le Mans) and it’s his rookie season. In my opinion, we have to go back to having a bit of a difference between the factory bikes and those of the customers, or find a solution to avoid certain things.” the Ducati one points out.
Poncharal’s response
And Poncharal responds in ‘Paddock GP’ with a mixture of surprise and indignation: “I was very surprised by the current champion, someone I have a lot of respect and admiration for, and is always quite calm in his comments, read such a huge thing, you could even say a big bullshit, Because Pecco, like every rider, comes from Moto3, went through Moto2 and came to MotoGP in an independent team. He was happy to have a high-performance bike that allowed him to get noticed. And then, they offered him a factory one.
“And what was my surprise, when he benefited from this system, to read that it would be good if there were six or seven tenths between them and the official ones so that they can have fun among the rich and powerful,” adds the Frenchman, who ensures that having that equality between the official motorcycles and the satellites “It’s great for everyone”: “It allows us independent teams to convince our partners that we can also attract sponsors because they are not only here to fill the grid, they can also win races and eventually go for the title.”
“What has been published is out of context”
After reading Poncharal’s statements and other reactions, Bagnaia assured in autosport that “what has been published is out of context due to the interpretation that some people have made”: “They asked me about safety and the reasons for the increase in accidents and I simply tried to make an analogy and said that this did not happen before. I think that years ago there were fewer contacts because there was a lot of difference between the leading drivers and the others. Now everything is much tighter. I arrived in MotoGP with a satellite team, how am I going to propose to create a gap between the factory bikes and the satellite ones?
“The snowball has been getting bigger and bigger when, At no time did I make any comments to create controversy. On the contrary, I am aware that this is a very serious issue. Unfortunately we are entering a dynamic in which some people prefer to seek controversy. I am tired of having to justify every word that is taken out of context as a pretext to open a controversy”, closes the Italian, who now only cares about reaching one hundred percent for the next Italian GP (June 11) upon discovering in some evidence that he suffered a partial tear of the talus in his right foot in his fall with Viñales at Le Mans.