Tech 3 Bike Completes Successful Second Day Of Testing

Yesterday's debut for the Tech 3 Moto2 bike saw success mixed with problems, and justified the decision to run a shakedown test at a track close to the team first. But the problems which arose made the team decide to run a second day of testing, to iron out the problems found on Tuesday. So Tech 3's Moto2 crew, led by engineer Guy Coulon, headed off to the circuit at Alès in the south of France to complete a second day of testing.

The decision had been made because the first day of testing at Ledenon had been so short, Herve Poncharal told Motomatters.com. "We could only run [at Ledenon] between 11am and 3pm," Poncharal said, "and because of the noise regulations, we could not run between 12 and 2." The first how, between 11 and 12, had been perfect, Poncharal said, but a niggling electrical fault had ruined the final hour, between 2 and 3pm. "It was a stupid problem. There was a faulty earth, and the bike would run fine, then just cut out," the Tech 3 boss told us. "It took us a long time to figure out the problem." By that time, the conditions on track were too cold to continue, and the team decided to run a second day's testing at Alès.

Things went much better on Wednesday. "We had a good day of testing," Poncharal said. "We were happy with the conditions, with the bike, with the rider [Florian Marino]. I spoke to Guy [Coulon] after the test, and I have known him for a long time, so I know when things are going well, and he was very happy." The electrical fault did not reappear, and Poncharal was happy that this happened during the shakedown test, and not at the official test at Valencia next week. "We only received the engine on Friday, so it is a good job that the problem happened here. We cannot afford to lose a couple of hours at Valencia."

When asked about his expectations for Valencia, Poncharal underlined that the team was focusing its efforts on the chassis. "The engine is a Superstock 600 with an HRC kit from Honda France," Poncharal said. "We know we will be 10 km/h or more down on the straight, but that's not important. We could have used a Supersport spec engine, but then we have to rebuild every 400 kms. The real Moto2 engine will be standard, so we prefer to spend the money on the chassis."

Asked about the resemblance of the bike to the Yamaha M1s the team fields in the MotoGP class, he said that the design which had appeared at Ledenon was only temporary. "That fairing is not final, it is just a mockup we have been using in the workshop," Poncharal insisted. A new fairing design would make an appearance at Valencia, and more changes could be made before the bike finally rolls onto the grid for the first race at Qatar.

The team had not yet finalized sponsorship for the project, but was getting plenty of interest, especially from Italy. "We have had people drive a thousand kilometers just to come and see us," Poncharal said, and the Frenchman was confident support for the project would be forthcoming.

The big recent news about the Moto2 class has been Aprilia's withdrawal from the class, and Poncharal said he had been as surprised as anyone. "I was very surprised at Aprilia pulling out," the Tech 3 boss told us. "We work with a lot of Italian partners who had been working very hard on the project, and it came as a surprise to them." But Poncharal emphasized that the strength of the series remained undiminished, with a very large number of constructors still involved in the series.