Johann Zarco sees his goal of a top 10 finish in the championship slip away, but can still finish as the best Honda rider tomorrow.
Johann zarco had arrived full of hope at the Valencia circuit, a track he knows by heart and which, on paper, seemed well-suited to the Honda. But in reality, the brand's riders are struggling more than expected and, even though the Frenchman managed to hold his own, he failed to score any points in the sprint race.
The day had started well enough. He made it through Q1 but then finished 11th in Q2. After a decent start that saw him complete the first lap in 12th place, he gained two positions thanks to Jorge Martín's mistake and the contact between Jack Miller and Fermín Aldeguer, which dropped the latter. He then moved up another position when the Australian served his long-lap penalty, but ultimately failed to score any points.
The disappointment was therefore significant at the finish, especially since he had hoped to challenge for the symbolic tenth place in the championship against Raúl Fernández and Brad Binder, both of whom finished ahead of him, with the Spaniard even finishing just off the podium. Nevertheless, he still has the objective of being the best Honda rider, with his 11-point lead over Luca Marini.
“Saturday was alright, it was great to get through Q1. I improved a bit in Q2 but it wasn’t enough, I only finished 11th. In the race, on a regular basis, you wouldn’t even be in the top 10. I finished tenth because Miller had a long lap. The gap isn’t huge, nine seconds behind the leader, but there was no way to beat me. You just have to accept that you have to fight for yourself on the bike to do the job and take what you can get.”, did he declare.
“Tomorrow there will be twice as many laps. When the tire degrades, I don't particularly lose traction, but the bike becomes even harder to ride, and that worries me for tomorrow. I know how to control the tire with the throttle, but if I can't then ride my bike anymore, a top 10 finish seems difficult to achieve. The other [Honda] riders are also struggling. I'm not comfortable enough on the bike to just push hard and make it through because I know that if I push hard, I might not make it through the corner. I don't want to ruin everything just because of a poorly controlled impulse.”
"A top 10 finish in the championship is practically out of reach. Raúl is too [in form], but I have an advantage to finish as the best Honda rider."he concluded.
Results of the sprint race of the 2025 MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
