Johann Zarco has returned to MotoGP. The French rider finished his first Australia GP alongside LCR Honda. He did not go out so badly.
Speaking to reporters, Zarco admits he enjoyed the race very much and finished at 13th.
“My first race on the Honda and it’s with Pol I’m fighting. But we were smiling at the end of the race, because maybe he felt I had the possibility to go faster, but he said ‘no, you stay behind for at least one race’.” Zarco said.
“It’s a huge track, so fast. Marc (Marquez) said on Thursday you need confidence to go fast here. If you don’t have confidence, you’re almost better off not trying.
“I had to relearn all of that, at 300km/h (186.4mph), fighting with the guys and keeping the pace, doing 27 laps and having the confidence into the corners everywhere. So, good work. It’s normal to be unhappy with a weekend, but thinking from where I came from, I can enjoy this result.” Zarco added.
Zarco decided to leave Red Bull KTM at the end of the 2019 season. He couldn’t find his feeling with the Austrian manufacturer, he got extremely frustrated, and asked to be let out of his contract with KTM. Meanwhile, KTM has already replaced him with Mika Kallio, a former MotoGP contender, who was one of their test riders.
According to reports, the former Yamaha Tech3 rider would ride the RC16 until the final round at Valencia.
“I could have a good fighting spirit and try my best and I could feel the good things on the bike, I didn’t get a worse feeling.” Zarco said.
“The feeling remained very constant from the beginning to the end of the race. Only in acceleration did I find it difficult to control the drive.” he added.
