Far from the somewhat formatted communication of traditional press releases, the exchanges between the French driver and the journalists are of a richness and simplicity that true enthusiasts will appreciate (you can find all his past debriefs in our section (“Interviews").
But for once, following a technical problem, we are not able to transcribe here, from an audio recording, the entirety of Johann Zarco's words at the end of his flamboyant Australian Grand Prix.
Also, to appreciate as faithfully as possible the feelings of the French driver, we will rely this time on the video broadcast by Eurosport as well as the comments collected by our friend Peter Mc Laren (crash.net) behind the Tech3 box.
" Amazing ! A good feeling to be able to fight, to overtake. I didn't get a good start and then when Miller passed me I had to close the gas because we could have touched each other. I wanted to be back with the best, I felt I could do it, I had to fight and overtake, then I led the race, I tried to escape, but managing the traction on this track is enough difficult when you are in first position, and then I fought again. They overtook me and there were difficult moments with Marquez, it's part of the race, and I experienced moments that I had never experienced before, the fights at this speed are so incredible!
It was like a Moto3 race, but we are 100km/h faster! You have to experience this emotion to believe it. »
Asked about the contact with Marquez at the hairpin, the Tech3 driver explains:
“Maverick passed him in turn 4 and I was almost the same speed, so I entered the corner, but we know Marquez is strong entering the corner. It was not possible for me to slow down any further and I had to touch him. But he was smart because when he felt something was wrong with the back of his bike, he jacked his bike up and we saved the day. So it was hot, but then he did the same thing to Valentino, and Iannone did the same thing to me at Siberia, turn 6. And even Crutchlow hit me in the knee, but we're all fighters and we must continue to fight. »
Márquez having escaped, the French driver then fought for second place until the last corner…
“I tried to get second place because I felt good behind Rossi. He is very strong on the brakes, he closed the line well and you can see that he has experience, so I tried to have better acceleration by changing line in the last corner, but instead of second, I made fourth. But don't worry, after this kind of fight and this kind of day, I can only enjoy and appreciate this fantastic moment. Being disappointed with the final result would be the wrong way to analyze the race: 1.8 seconds behind the winner, almost second place, no way to be disappointed! »
Johann Zarco admitted to having gotten into heat more than once...
“It's an emotion to fight at more than 300km/h, you can fight on other circuits but here, I don't think you're often less than 200km/h. It's amazing and I want to call my coach and watch the race with him! »
The Rookie of the Year made the daring choice to race with soft tires, front and rear…
“It was a good choice for me, and today the bike and I were able to fight for the victory. Marquez left because he was able to do even better, but we were ready to fight for victory. I didn't expect to be strong and comfortable like today in Australia, so I have to go to Malaysia and aim for the same goal, fight with the best and, if I feel good, think about victory . So this is a good point for confidence. »
Asked what he had learned during his duels with several MotoGP champions, Zarco replied:
“I had seen it before, but I got confirmation once again that these guys are really on another planet, because they can fight and analyze so much at that speed, and it's really amazing. »
