Forcada: "I’d do away with aerodynamics, the paddock is less human now”

If you look in the dictionary under “dean of motorcycling” you’d probably find his name. Ramon Forcada is a real institution in the MotoGP paddock, primarily for having worked – and won – with phenomenal riders of the caliber of Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, but that’s not all. To understand the Spanish technician’s profound level of knowledge and experience, you need simply to listen to some of his reflections on the past, present and future of the two-wheeled world.

Ramon, the MotoGP paddock has changed a lot since you first arrived. For better or worse, do you think?

“It depends on the area. In terms of humanity, it’s got worse, in that we were all friends and both the work and travel were very different. Everything became more professional when Dorna came in, which helped in many ways of course – it would have been impossible to continue until now with the same modus operandi we had in the 80s, as the world has progressed and motorcycling needed to do the same”.

Do you miss MotoGP?

“I miss MotoGP, but I don’t miss going (he laughs). Now I watch on TV and realise that I’m on the other side of the world sometimes and I’m fine with that. After 35 years in the paddock, I think I’m fine with that.”

Forcada and today’s MotoGP

If you could create a team in MotoGP today, which manufacturer would you choose?

“It depends on the plans each constructor has for the immediate future. We know the current situation of course, but I wouldn’t just run to Ducati – I’d first want to speak with other constructors, to understand, and then decide based on that. There’s no doubt that the winning bike right now is the Ducati”.

Do you think the Ducati domination can last?

“I wouldn’t know, also because it doesn’t depend so much on Ducati but on the other manufacturers. The Japanese are in difficulty right now, but not technically or in terms of investment, rather it has more to do with character and mentality. The Japanese need time to do things, and they’re behind right now. To take a step forward, they’ll need time. When I was at Yamaha and wanted to make a change, a plan was needed and then it would have to be approved before being put into practice months later. At Ducati or Aprilia they’re able to do all that in a week, and if the new thing doesn’t work they abandon it, no problem. It’s all very different.”

Forcada, Bagnaia and his champions

You’ve seen and worked with many champions, like Rossi and Stoner. Aside from Marquez, do you see a another real phenomenon of their caliber?

“In the past there were four or five riders of that caliber but now riders have another problem, in that the aerodynamics have made the bikes faster but less safe. If a bike goes 10 km/h slower it makes no difference to the audience, but it is easier to overtake with. Now everyone’s working to take the tyres to the limit and the final result is that the difference between the bikes and riders is truly minimal. How could this be improved? If we went back to having bikes without aerodynamics. The current situaiton means that it’s hard to say who’s a real champion. If you look at speed, Pecco seems to be the best, but he’s sometimes not finished races, and I understand him when he says he doesn’t know why he crashed.”

What do you mean?

“If you have a tyre that starts to slide because the load it has is not supported by the grip, you feel it. If you then add aerodynamic load that creates artificial grip, and then you lose it for some reason, the load on the tyre compared to the grip it has is nothing, and so you crash and can’t understand why. You’re dealing with a force that suddenly disappears”.

Considering the strengths of the riders with whom you’ve worked, how would you make up your perfect rider?

“That’s very different. I’d take the hammer down pace of Jorge, Stoner’s sensitivity and Barros’ confidence, but all fast riders have one great strength.”