Herve Poncharal: Eight Ducatis on the MotoGP grid? 'It's a free market'

The departure of Suzuki means Desmosedicis now fill 36% of the 22-rider grid, with Aprilia’s new RNF satellite agreement coming at the expense of Yamaha, reduced to just a factory entry.

While Ducati has fielded eight bikes since 2016 - and other manufacturers have done so in the past - the increasing competitiveness of the now title-winning Desmosedici has prompted debate over whether a limit on bikes per manufacturer should be imposed.

At least one Ducati finished on the podium in every race last season and, while supporting eight riders is a considerable burden, there are also clear advantages in areas such as data gathering and testing.

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“I’m with Pierer Mobility,” Poncharal, who owns the GASGAS Tech3 team, told Crash.net. “But if Ducati was only granted four bikes, some of the other four riders might be without a job.

“It’s a bit like when Dorna is blamed because there are a lot of Spanish riders on the grid. But it's not their fault if the teams are selecting Spanish riders.

“You can't stop a team hiring the rider they want, if that rider agrees to race for them, and it’s the same with bikes.

“Dorna cannot stop an Independent team from choosing whichever bikes they want, if a manufacturer is willing to supply them. It’s a free market.

“The team would say, ‘We want this package. Our riders want this package. Our sponsor wants this package. And now you're going to interfere and damage my business by stopping me?’

“It's like if a MotoGP fan was told they were not allowed to buy the road bike they wanted because it was popular and had to buy a different one just to balance the numbers, they wouldn’t be happy!

“The Independent teams are private companies and it's up to them to select the best bikes they can in terms of cost, support from the factory, performance, reliability etc.

“When Aprilia decided to have its own factory team last season, Gresini was offered [continued] Aprilia support. But they went to Ducati and when you see the 2022 season, you can’t blame them. The decision helped them to be competitive.

“It was not [Ducati’s] original strategy I think [to have eight bikes], but they said ‘yes’ when they were approached by the teams, they’ve managed the situation and nobody has a bad bike. It’s a huge investment in terms of logistics, manpower and money."

MotoGP's ‘ideal grid’ didn’t materialise

While Dorna’s unfulfilled goal was to have each of the six (previous) manufacturers supporting one satellite team, some factories dragged their feet despite the ‘carrot’ of extra financial support from the commercial rights holder.

“Dorna is giving a financial ‘carrot’ to the factories [to supply satellite bikes]," Poncharal said.

"So if a manufacturer only has a factory team, two bikes, they get X amount of financial support. But if that same manufacturer also has a satellite operation, they get X + Y.

“For sure, Dorna would prefer and it was always the ideal scenario when we had six manufacturers, for each of them to have one factory and one satellite team.

"6 manufacturers, 4 bikes each, 24 riders. Ideal grid. But it didn't work.

“Dorna was pushing. We’ve all been pushing. We did everything we could to convince every manufacturer [to support a satellite team].

"But some manufacturers play the game better than others. Also, you have to respect the manufacturers if they don't want to have a satellite operation, like Suzuki."

The Independent teams also pay a lease fee of several million euros per rider to their manufacturer for satellite machinery, which is effectively covered by Dorna.

“[A factory with a satellite team] gets more financial support from the promoter, plus the lease fee [for the bikes] which the satellite team is going to pay you.”

Poncharal underlined the Dorna funding comes with no strings attached and satellite teams are free to lease from whichever manufacturer they chose.

‘The absent are always wrong’

“Now, finally, more and more manufacturers understand that having a satellite operation is not a weight or a handicap, as was said sometimes in the past. It’s an advantage because you can prepare young riders for the future, and you have more feedback and data, at a time when testing has been cut back," Poncharal said.

“For example, in Pierer Mobility Group (KTM and GASGAS) at Sepang, each of the four riders was testing something different. So you have more information in the same space of time.

“I think Aprilia are happy to have four bikes now and I believe Yamaha is really looking for a new satellite operation. In the near future, I don't think there will be any factory without a satellite team.

"But at the moment, Ducati helped the championship more than hindered the championship.”

If another manufacturer wants to tempt a team away from Ducati, they will simply need to provide a better all-around offer.

In other words, if the bike itself is not as competitive as a Desmosedici, other incentives such as increased factory support, lower leasing costs and a longer-term partnership might all come into play.

“In French, we say, ‘the absent are always wrong’. If you don’t have a satellite team there are two reasons: Either you don’t want one, or you are not offering a package that is competitive enough - not just on track, but the whole package," said Poncharal.

“This is what you have to consider when you talk to a manufacturer. When I left Yamaha to go to KTM and Pierer Mobility, for sure I was leaving a bike that at that moment had a higher level of performance.

“But the overall offer, for me as the owner of my company, was much better. And within two years we’d won two races with KTM.

“So you also have to consider, how close are you to the factory? The level of support and involvement of your manufacturer is important.

“I'm very happy to be with Pierer Mobility. I signed a five-year deal with Dorna and at the same time a five-year deal with my manufacturer. It means I can plan, and invest. If you only have a one-year deal you never know what’s happening the next year.

“Now the Independent teams are in a much more comfortable position than in the past. Almost every Independent team rider is signed directly to their factory and most also have 2023 spec bikes.

“As Gresini showed last year, and we’ve shown in the past, a satellite guy can win races. And ultimately, in the future, why not win the championship?

“But going back to your original question, don’t forget there have been times when Honda had eight MotoGP bikes and Yamaha, in our first 500cc season in 2001, also had eight bikes and nobody was complaining!”

Ducati's eight entries are divided between the Factory, Pramac, VR46 and Gresini teams. KTM, Honda and Aprilia each have one factory and one satellite team, with Yamaha's two bikes run by the official Monster team.

Gresini's initial Ducati contract runs until the end of this season with VR46, which currently leads the world championship with Marco Bezzecchi. signing with Ducati until the end of 2024.

While admitting it will be difficult to secure a satellite team in time for next season, Yamaha is setting its sights on returning to four M1s in 2025.