Much praise for the KTM / MotoGP engine SPEEDWEEK

MotoGP

of Günther Wiesinger – 29.11.2018 09:08

Red Bull KTM rookie Johann Zarco has forgotten most of what he has produced in two years of MotoGP racing. "I am now a factory driver. The demands on the driver have increased, "he said.

"We need some time, but overall overall is constantly improving," said sixth World Championship, Johann Zarco, after his third day of MotoGP testing in the world. Red Bull KTM Factory team.

Pol Espargaró signed on Saturday the ranks 7, 3 and 6 at the GP of Valencia under different conditions, whether FP3, FP4 or Qualification 1; in the rainy race, he won the sensational third place. Even the test driver Mika Kallio has already won two tenth places with the RC16. Pol Espargaró was ninth (Brno and Phillip Island) twice in 2017, and Bradley Smith at the finals of the 2018 World Cup, even though he dropped in the first race and went on to win. is ranked 16th and last.

The base of the KTM must therefore be quite solid after two years, at least on some roads.

Johann Zarco repeatedly told Tech3-Yamaha that he was trying to copy Jorge Lorenzo's driving style to Yamaha, and that he managed it successfully because his successes and his time on the customer Yamaha were worth to be seen. He often put the Movistar factory team in the shadows.

Is Zarco trying to imitate Pol Espargaró's style at KTM, who tamed the recalcitrant KTM with the shredded steel frame and WP suspension (all the other teams use Öhlins)? Should the newcomer KTM erase everything and forget what he learned at Yamaha for two years on MotoGP driving?

Zarco: "Of course, I have my own driving style, I've proven that it worked well on different bikes in different classes, and we have to remember that Lorenzo took a lot of time to to get used to the car when he came to Ducati, so when he won, he looked exactly like he would win on the Yamaha as he did before, and you did not see a big difference. must work on the bike.The bike must give the driver the right feeling.It is the most important key to success.I tackles this project impartially, i would like to learn new skills on the bike. I'm adapting But we must also insist that something is changed on the bike.If the team understands, everything will be fine. "

Is there anything in the KTM RC16 that really impresses Zarco? "Yes, I like to repeat myself – it's this engine.The engine gives me a good feeling, even when going out of corners.Even if you ruin a curve, you can perfectly accelerate Yes, the engine is one of the strengths of KTM, and this benefit will be even more noticeable when the lap times improve, so we can use the benefits of this engine even better. "

Zarco said last season, it makes the most of the Yamaha, more is not to do. But the places of the Yamaha factory team were already busy early.

That is why he is happy to finally be a factory driver and have a builder in his back. "Yes, we have so many options at KTM, after three days of testing, we still have tons of things and parts to try, and we can compare everything.It's the biggest difference between a rider. from the factory and a corsair of a customer team.In the last two years I have had a motorcycle in the winter and I had to make the most of it.After a while, I knew what was the best configuration.This has made my job quite simple.Now I have a lot more information to collect and process, I have to keep track, we have a lot more engineers in the box The requirements imposed on the driver therefore also increase, he must better treat the information and control all emotions, he must remain calm and give the technicians useful information.I am back in the learning phase because I am not factory driver only since three working days.I t take it on myself. "

"We need time, but it will be," said Zarco yesterday.
much more confident than in Valencia, where he grunted after two days and two falls: "It's worse than what we feared."

Jerez Test, 1st day, November 28th

1. Petrucci, Ducati, 1: 37.968 min
2. Dovizioso, Ducati, 0.217 sec
3. Nakagami, Honda, + 0.380 sec
4. Viñales, Yamaha, + 0.408 sec
5. Márquez, Honda, + 0.549 sec
6. Morbidelli, Yamaha, + 0.691 sec
7. Lorenzo, Honda, + 0,781 sec
8. Miller, Ducati, + 0.848 sec
9. Bautista, Ducati, + 0.862 sec
10. Me, Suzuki, + 0.988 sec
11. Iannone, Aprilia, + 1,040 sec
12. Rabat, Ducati, + 1.129 sec
13. Rins, Suzuki, + 1.182 sec
14. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 1.189 sec
15. Pol Espargaró, KTM, + 1.273 sec
16th Quartararo, Yamaha, + 1,446 sec
17. Rossi, Yamaha, + 1,596 sec
18. Smith, Aprilia, + 2.206 sec
19. Zarco, KTM, +2.224 sec
20. Abraham, Ducati, + 2,470 sec
21. Syahrin, KTM, + 2.662 sec
22. Guintoli, Suzuki, + 2.775 sec
23. Oliveira, KTM, + 3.731 sec
24. Baiocco, Aprilia, + 4.798 sec