Exhausted like the day before, Johann Zarco was still able to rejoice in his performance in Sunday’s Indonesian Grand Prix. Speaking to Canal+, the Team LCR Honda rider said he was “super happy for an excellent ninth place”, concluding his best weekend of the season in terms of points.
Zarco leaves Mandalika with nine points in his pocket, throughout 2024 he had never achieved 4 points and this is the best result of the season. “There was an opportunity and I’m so happy I took it,” he comments enthusiastically. “It’s fantastic. As a person who counts points one by one, I got almost ten in a single weekend, which is great. I said there might be opportunities in racing in Asia. Here it seemed like there was one since Friday, and I caught it.”
Naturally, the situation in the championship does not change for the rider, who despite being 17th overall, is increasingly establishing himself as the best of the four Honda riders. The most important thing is another, and obviously the confirmation that the changes introduced on the Japanese bike at Misano are working
“This disadvantage that we have in acceleration, in the end here we only have it at the exit of turn 17, so in reality over an entire lap there is only one point where we lose a lot,” analyzes the French driver. “For everything else, thanks to the new fairing I was able to fight. We’ll see at Motegi, which is more stop and go, but since I’m good at braking, I’ll try to work on this aspect. And we’ll see if there really will be a big loss in acceleration.”
Johann Zarco confirmed Honda’s progression.
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Looking back on his race, Johann Zarco said he was satisfied with having found a good feeling at the start, aware that he would still have to deal with the weak point of his Honda. Patiently, he assessed the situation in front of him well to avoid being involved in Jack Miller’s fall, which took Aleix Espargaró and Álex Márquez with him.
“I had good instincts in the first two corners, because at the beginning, as soon as you put second gear, you can’t advance very well,” he explained. “I managed to get very close to the other riders at the first corner and I could already feel Miller and Aleix almost touching each other a little. When I saw them at the second corner… I didn’t enter with them and I was right to do so because I would have been next! I managed to pass and this was already a victory.”
“Then I caught up with the group in front and it wasn’t easy: that yo-yo feeling, the acceleration at the last corner where the bike rears up, you lose a bit. I found it difficult to overtake, but I tried. Once I passed Brad Binder, I tried to catch Fabio [Quartararo]and at the end I was a little dry. Binder attacked me and I tried to respond, but his strength is braking and I couldn’t find a gap. But I was happy,” explained the driver from Nice.
The satisfaction of an overall positive weekend will have come at the price of a great expenditure of energy on the physical front, which Johann Zarco nevertheless accepts: “It’s part of my riding style, because even with the Ducati, in races like this, in the end of running, I struggle to move my body. It would be something I could unlock, even if my style has proven itself, but I believe there is always something to gain to achieve better performances.”
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