After three seasons riding Ducati bikes in MotoGP, Johann Zarco traded the comfort of the most competitive bike in the field for the challenge of helping Honda return to success. He is currently with LCR Honda, a satellite team, and so far, the opportunities for good results have been lacking due to the bike’s lack of performance.
Asked in a press conference if the season is going as expected, the Frenchman explained: ‘Five years ago, when I went to KTM, I was not ready to accept having less performance, and try to develop, stay calm, and analyze the potential of the rider and of the bike. Now with this experience I have more confidence in myself and I can analyze better what I’m doing on the bike. So that’s why it’s a way to re-try what I missed five years ago and get involved in this development. It’s what I was expecting’.
Despite not hiding that there are difficult moments, Zarco emphasized that he can stay calm and is confident in the work being done by Honda:
– When is getting hard and you cannot finish a race or you canot even follow the others, that’s the worst thing for the rider’s feeling. But I stay calm and I’m really seeing the big job of Honda and that is giving motivation also to keep imroving myself and be ready when the bike is ready.