This weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix will be a very special and emotional event for Herve Poncharal, the boss and founder of the Tech3 MotoGP team. It marks the start of the final part of his long and successful career in motorcycle racing. From January next year, Tech3 will have new owners. The team will be taken over by a group led by Guenther Steiner, who is known for being the former boss of the Haas Formula 1 team. This is a big change for MotoGP, as Poncharal has been in charge of Tech3 since he created it in 1990.

Tech3 started in the 250cc class and quickly became one of the top teams. In 2000, it won the World Championship with French rider Olivier Jacque, only a year after starting a partnership with Yamaha. In 2001, Tech3 moved up to the MotoGP class and raced as a Yamaha satellite team for many years. In 2019, it joined forces with KTM, becoming part of the Austrian manufacturer’s racing family. This partnership brought great success in 2020, when Miguel Oliveira gave Tech3 its first ever MotoGP race win at the Styrian Grand Prix and later won again at the Portuguese Grand Prix. These two victories were very special moments for both Tech3 and KTM.

Besides running his own team, Poncharal also worked hard for the sport as president of the International Race Teams’ Association, helping to support and represent all MotoGP teams. Earlier this year, he passed that role on to Lucio Cecchinello, the LCR Honda team boss.

Poncharal has said that the Portuguese Grand Prix will be his second-to-last race as team owner, before ending his career at Valencia on November 16. In an interview with Italian website GPOne, he said that Grand Prix racing had been his life for almost fifty years, and that it was very difficult to say goodbye to something that meant so much to him. He explained that when you give all your heart and energy to something for so long, letting go is never easy.

He also said that Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, who runs MotoGP, had called him several times to show his support. According to Poncharal, Ezpeleta told him, “You’re not just my friend, you’re my brother.” Poncharal said this meant a lot to him and showed the strong bonds he had built in the sport.

Although he knows it will be an emotional farewell, Poncharal does not want it to be a sad one. He said he had thought a lot about his decision and felt ready to close this chapter of his life. He hopes to smile at his final race, even though he will feel powerful emotions inside.

After more than three decades leading Tech3, Herve Poncharal leaves behind a legacy of passion, hard work, and success. From its early days in the 250cc class to winning races in MotoGP, Tech3 has become an important part of motorcycle racing history, and its founder will always be remembered as one of the sport’s great figures.