Johann Zarco (Yamaha YZR-M1-Monter Yamaha Tech3) finished in 4th place in a crazy race. 7th on the first lap, the ZF Grand Prix School driver rose like a bullet to the lead of the race to take the lead for 1 laps in a battle with Marc Márquez, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales. 7rd on the last lap, it was Viñales who snatched his place on the podium. Johann leaves Phillip Island with 3st place Rookie, 1st place Team Independent and the best lap in the race in 1'1. Provisionally, the Shark driver maintains his 29.572th position, 6 points behind Dani Pedrosa and above all wins the title of Rookie of the Year 36, a first objective achieved for the Zarco-Laurent Fellon duo!
Johann Zarco (Yamaha YZR-M1-Mount Yamaha Tech3) undoubtedly had his best race of the season on the Phillip Island circuit. It is Hervé Poncharal, his team manager, who says it. Starting from the first line, theAvignonnais of adoption indeed fought like a lion from start to finish of the Australian Grand Prix to get a place on the podium.
At the finish, his leather and his motorcycle bore the scars of the fierce fight he had to fight against Marquez, Rossi, Viñales, Iannone, Miller, Crutchlow and a few others. Leader from the fifth to the thirteenth lap, then again during the seventeenth and eighteenth laps, zarco didn't give up anything. If, four laps from the finish, Marquez managed to gain a few meters in advance, the driver Yamaha Tech3 managed to stay in contact with Rossi and Viñales until the checkered flag. Coming out in third position from the last corner, the podium was even his arms outstretched... But Viñales took advantage of the higher speed of his official M1 to take third place from him on the finish line.
Fourth, less than seconds behind the winner, Johann pockets thirteen points which allow him to consolidate his sixth place in the general classification, but above all which already ensure him the place of “Rookie of the Year” 2017.
Johann Zarco – 4th at 1.842 – Chpt: 6th 138 pts
“This race was simply incredible! I had a great feeling on the bike, I was able to attack from start to finish, overtake and redouble... I was hampered at the start by Miller and thus lost a few positions on the first lap, but I was able to quickly get back in front. Fighting at more than 300 km/h on a circuit like Phillip Island gives you phenomenal sensations. It is without a doubt the best experience of my life! There were some very heated moments with Marquez. I touched him, he touched Rossi, Iannone pushed me… We all ended up with tire marks on our legs and shoulders. At the end I thought I could finish second because I was better than Rossi entering the corner. But he had the last word. Honestly, I didn't think I would be so strong and comfortable on this circuit which had always given me problems in the past. It's great, it proves that the rider and the bike are capable of doing it. I was able to give the right information to the team to make the bike progress throughout the weekend, it's really positive. In the end, I wasn't disappointed to finish just off the podium. This would be a bad analysis of the race. »
Next event, from October 27 to 29 for the Malaysian GP in Sepang (17/18).
source: Johannzarco.fr
