Herve Poncharal: "[Francesco] Bagnaia is talking bullshit"
Categories: MotoGP
Herve Poncharal is annoyed by Pecco Bagnaia’s statements regarding MotoGP customer teams. “We worked hard to get to this level.”
After a number of incidents in MotoGP lately, world champion Pecco Bagnaia wants MotoGP to be less tight. The Italian suggests restoring the once larger gaps between factory and independent teams.
In Le Mans he explains, “Maybe it would be better to go back when there was a gap of six and seven tenths between the factory and the customer bikes.”
In the aftermath, IRTA boss Herve Poncharal commented on Bagnaia’s proposals to www.paddock-gp.com:
“I have a lot of respect for him [Bagnaia] but he is talking bullshit. Like every other rider, he arrived in MotoGP in an independent team and he was happy to have a high-performance bike that allowed him to get noticed.”
Poncharal is annoyed by, what he describes as “unsportsmanlike” behavior. “When you are the reigning World Champion, you have to think seven times before saying something stupid. It is disrespectful to penalize the other bikes, even to his colleagues at VR46. I respect him a lot, but that disappointed me.”
Poncharal feels particularly attacked as Tech3 team owner. The Frenchman knows that having the independent teams in contention for the title as well is important for the paddock.
“It’s nice for everyone, it’s nice for the sport, and it allows us independent teams to find sponsors because we tell them that we are not just here to fill the grid. We can win races and we can aim for the title.”
