Tech 3 not worried about rider rivalry

Edwards recently revealed that he was no longer speaking to Toseland after feeling he had been treated unfairly when the Briton instigated a crew chief switch during the winter.

Toseland's bike will now be run by Edwards's former crew chief Garry Reynders, with Guy Coulon moving in the opposite direction. Edwards declared himself delighted with Coulon after their first tests together, but remained displeased with Toseland over the incident.

However Poncharal thinks the growing rivalry between his riders will actually boost the team as both push to beat each other.

"I can't say too much about what Colin has said because those are his own views, but you always know that the first person a rider wants to beat is his own teammate," Poncharal told the official MotoGP website.

"James improved a lot last year, we think he has shown last year that he could be a podium contender in his second year with Tech 3, so they will try to beat each other and this is fun.

"If it gives extra motivation to James' department and to Colin's department I am absolutely happy.

"We will never see two riders going on holiday together because this is an individual sport. They respect each other still, okay they don't talk anymore, but who cares?

"I wanted to give both of them the best support I could and that is what I have done."

Poncharal believes the change in crew chiefs has actually worked out well for both parties.

"I understood James' point of view because Garry lives in England close to James, and he speaks better English than Guy," he said.

"James and Garry spent a lot of time together last year travelling to and from England and James likes to talk to his crew chief in between races.

"Colin was not so happy because he thought he could have been more involved in the decision making process, but he accepted it.

"Since then Colin has had a dream start, as he had a great time in testing both in Jerez in November and then in Sepang with the new bike. He is very, very happy now."