Poncharal looks back on mixed Californian sojourn

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

The manager of the Yamaha Tech 3 team, Herve Poncharal, has given his thoughts on the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend.

The trip to Laguna Seca brought mixed results for Herve Poncharal´s Yamaha Tech 3 outfit, with the good news of Colin Edwards´ contract renewal followed up by some hard practice sessions, a decent showing in qualifying and a tough race.

Edwards arrived at his home GP in a buoyant mood, despite his Sachsenring DNF, as he announced that he would be staying in MotoGP with Yamaha in 2009 in Thursday´s press conference.

However, once the action commenced Michelin´s obvious disadvantage, in comparison to their Bridgestone rivals, soon emerged and the Texas Tornado´s weekend took some twists and turns, as he eventually finished fourteenth in the race - having started from the head of the third row on the gird.

Poncharal reviewed Edwards´ fortunes saying, `After the big disappointment of Germany, where Colin crashed and ended a strong run of good finishes, we came here with him suffering from a neck problem. From the very beginning on Friday nothing was really right and we were struggling all weekend long. We tried hard and I think qualifying was the best part of the weekend. In the race he just didn´t feel comfortable on the bike.´

Continuing his appraisal, Poncharal added, `Colin is a rider who is very sensitive to grip issues and I think he never had the feeling that he could push hard. Unfortunately, although the lap times were close, he ended up quite far behind. This can happen in racing, we will have a good break and we will try to come back a lot stronger.´

Turning his attention to the other side of the pit-box Poncharal noted James Toseland´s valiant efforts, remarking, `James has been struggling. Donington, Assen and Sachsenring were difficult races, and here with a package that was not easy to handle I think he did really well. He was fifth in qualifying, on the second row, his best position since Qatar, and in the race he was pushing hard. Seventh until one lap to go and ending up ninth, with a good group, and I think his confidence is a lot higher than it was before coming here.´