Ducati riders’ reaction to Maverick Vinales Qatar MotoGP ride a “big boost” for KTM

Tech3 KTM Team Principal Herve Poncharal says the reaction of the Ducati riders to Maverick Vinales’ contention at the front of the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix is a “big boost” to KTM.

Vinales crossed the finish line in Qatar second on the road, but was penalised 16 seconds for a breach of front tyre pressure rules, which saw him drop to 14th.

Nonetheless, Poncharal says the Spaniard’s performance in Lusail was “a real P2”, even if he and the Tech3 team are not opposed to the penalty.

“First, we need to be proud of what Maverick [Vinales] and his crew did – this was a real P2,” Poncharal told MotoGP.com during FP1 in Jerez.

“Having said that, I don’t want to go back on the rule – the rule is the rule, I always said we have to accept it. The reality is the 16 seconds [of time penalty] put us down to 14th position.

“But still I think it was a very important race: it gives Maverick, but the other KTM riders, too, the possibility to see that we can fight with the top guys. That was the first time another machine, [other] than a Ducati, would be on the podium.”

Poncharal also felt there were positives to be taken from the response of the Ducati riders on the Qatar podium to the performance of Vinales and the RC16, something the Tech3 KTM boss felt was a “big boost” to the Austrian manufacturer during what continues to be a difficult period, also away from the race track.

“When you see also what Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] and Marc [Marquez] were saying in the cooldown room after the race before going onto the podium, they were impressed by the bike, by the level of Maverick for sure, but also how the engine was performing, how the chassis was behaving, the stability in braking – all the points that are so important,” he said.

“So, this is a big boost.

“The whole Red Bull KTM project has been going through a big storm because of the financial situation the manufacturer is facing, but this [result] is showing that it doesn’t matter what’s happening behind the doors, doesn’t matter the financial situation that has been at some stage hampering us; still we have a good package, still we can fight with the leaders, and this is what Maverick showed and for this I would like to thank him.

“Now we have to take the positives, and all I can tell you is Maverick was very positive, he told me ‘Jerez is supposed to be a good track for us, and we’re going to try to do it again here’.

“So, this is the spirit we are in now – we want to forget about what happened, keep the positive which is a real P2 for me in our hearts, and let’s move from that.”

Poncharal added: “For sure, the performance came at the right time, but the penalty came at the wrong time because we really needed this podium – everyone needs a podium, but for us it would have been a fantastic boost.

“It was already, but it was 50 per cent of what it could have been.”

Vinales started the Spanish Grand Prix weekend off in strong form, too, finishing FP1 in fourth place; although the other KTMs continued to struggle: Brad Binder was the second-best RC16 in 14th, and Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini were 19th and 20th, respectively.