Guy Coulon is an undeniable figure in MotoGP, especially in the Tech3 universe over the past few years. With many years of experience at the highest level, the Frenchman has seen it all and discussed what happened with Jorge Martín in Qatar.
In an interview with Paddock-GP, Coulon talked about what happened with the Pramac Racing rider: ‘Well, I can answer that with the experience I had in previous years, which I no longer have today. What often happened, with more or less all the riders, was that during the qualifying session in particular, when two soft tires are usually used: two laps, come in, and two more laps with a second tire. What I could observe, verify, and recheck many times, in different sessions and with different riders, is that after the first qualifying tire, when the rider comes in and is in his normal performance zone, and is quite satisfied with his position, he goes out with the second tire satisfied, I would say, or more or less’.
And he continued: ‘You will ride correctly, smoothly, and overall improve your time a little. If you enter and are not in your place, a little low, etc., in your position, start again with the second tire, make an effort, get a little nervous, a little less flexible, attack more, etc., and systematically keep saying that the second tire did not work, that it had no grip, because you were more aggressive with your bike‘.
And he explained that, in order to ‘compensate’ for what he did, he ends up being more aggressive: ‘The same happens when a rider does not start well: well, to compensate, he is a little more aggressive, less focused on his riding, and starts to think that the tire is not working because he is being aggressive, loses a bit of grip, and starts to struggle throughout the race and tells himself: “I won’t be able to because of this tire,” and becomes even more aggressive and starts to panic a little and have problems. In the end, he will say: “Well, the tire didn’t work”‘.
