We perpetuate our habit of referring to you in full the words of Johann Zarco, in a raw way, therefore without journalistic formatting or distortion.
Alongside the sometimes slightly formatted communication of traditional press releases, the exchanges between the French rider and the journalists in the hospitality of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team are of a richness and simplicity that true enthusiasts will appreciate (you can find all his past debriefings in our section “Interviews").
There is always the little detail that immerses enthusiasts more and more every day in the world of MotoGP…
Johann, this is your first line since Le Mans. It seems that you have had some problems with Marc Márquez…
Johann zarco : “These conditions were good enough for me. I like it when it's almost dry with the rain tires. I have a good feeling on the bike, I feel a lot of things, and I see that I can have an advantage. I didn't start very fast, unlike Jorge, I was more careful then I was able to set a good time and I think I was in the lead. And as he said, the strategy then was either change tires or let your tire cool for a lap before attacking the next lap. I did it once and when I wanted to do it again, Maverick was arriving, Marc was waiting, as was Iannone. And since I had an advantage today in qualifying, I didn't want to be the one who was going to pull them. I know that Marc, even if he is having difficulty, is quite capable of improving his time and taking pole, so I waited a long time even if I was a little worried that the checkered flag might fall down. When we set off, Marc was in front at a certain distance. I tried to do my best and I think I did a very fast lap, although in turn 13 I had to overtake, which made me miss the corner a little and allowed him to repeat myself. I improved my time, but I think it was possible today to beat the other 2 boys, at least for the qualification.”
Can this first line help you regain your confidence for the future?
" I hope so ! I started the weekend by attacking on the bike without asking myself any questions. The feeling on the bike was pretty good and we made progress. I can't say we have the pace to get the podium in the dry but I think starting from the front row is an opportunity to try and beat myself. Because at least I feel like I can overtake other drivers. So we'll see tomorrow. It should rain. If it's heavy rain it can be dangerous and I don't know if they would cancel the race or not. What would be perfect for me would be if it was like today, with the wet tires on the dryer. In these conditions, I can really hope for a very good result.”
Would you like the race to take place a little earlier, if the conditions required it?
“We are not the last race tomorrow. Normally, there are the Moto2s after us. In case of heavy rain, why not have the race earlier. That would be a good thing. Simply, waking up and breakfast would be earlier tomorrow.”
Is it possible that all the drivers decide together not to race tomorrow and that the race is postponed to Monday?
“If it rains in the morning since 6 a.m. and it continues to rain all day, not even heavily, I think it will not be possible to race because there will be too much water on the track. I have never run on Monday. This happened once. It's hard to say. It only rained for 5 or 10 minutes because of a big cloud and that caused very big problems. If the rain is constant tomorrow, I don’t think it will be possible.”
Is the problem with the asphalt, bumps or poor drainage of the track? And can this be arranged for next year?
“I think there was a big rain in 2015 and they were able to race, but in this place, turn 7, even if they resurface, the track is curved and all the water stagnates there. I think that with the same rain at turn 18 we would not have had the same problem because the track is inclined and the water can drain away. It's hard to say what to do but the bumps don't help because there is an alternation of water and bumps which is one of the worst things. From turn 7 to turn 11, even if they change the surface, if the bumps come back, the water will stagnate. I think that's the problem. Otherwise we would have to change all the slopes of the track.”
How much does MotoGP help charity and how much does it profit from it?
“I like doing this. On Thursday, I was impressed by the people and remembered the days when I was not a pilot: when you can have a pilot's suit, a pair of boots or a helmet, it looks too Precious as a diamond. And you can see that if people are able to buy, there are large amounts of money. It's very special and quite good because they can make their dream come true while helping charities. It's good and maybe we should do it more often in other places because, I don't remember but I think we only do it in Britain. This could also work very well in other countries.
Find all of Johann Zarco’s other debriefings here!
Ranking and photo credit: MotoGP.com
