We perpetuate our habit of referring to you in full the words of Johann Zarco, in a raw way, therefore without any 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…
Are you satisfied with your choice of tires?
Johann zarco :" Yes ! The front medium tire was a very good choice. Overall, I didn't suffer with the rear tension. He was still pretty good at the end of the race so it was a really good choice to help me fight at the start of the race. I would have been even happier if I had been able to overtake more drivers at the start of the race, but it's not that easy. The most important thing is that I think that since Saturday I have been back with good racing feelings, and during this one I could see that the podium was not that far away because I was able to stay with the group. I wasn’t easy enough to fight with them but I’m on track to be back among them.”
What caused this change between Friday and Saturday?
“We worked on the positive points of the bike. Like I said, we can't change much about this one because we know it pretty well. But it's still a racing bike, so if you focus your mind on the technical weaknesses, then you're not progressing. I think this weekend we focused on the positives.”
You've struggled a bit since Le Mans. Have you regained some of the total concentration on the race that you had before?
" Exactly ! The summer break was good for thinking carefully. I want to run and I want to have a runner's mentality. I got it and I saw that I was really capable of being with that, and just that, it put a smile on my face under my helmet.”
In an interview with GPone, you said that your 2017 bike would not evolve this year. Is this still the case ?
“Yes, yes exactly! It's not even the 2017, it's the 2016, because the 2017, I think even the factory team didn't like it. So either you use the 2018 or the 2016. The 2016 is not far from the podium, and I really believe we can get it before the end of the season.”
Do you encounter the same problem as the official motorcycles which wear their tires too much, especially at the end of the race, because of their engines?
“I don’t want to think about that. We don't wear the tire too much. It's just that we're not easy enough on the bike and maybe that's why we're struggling with the tires. But the latter, now and for many races, have similar reactions, whether they are soft, medium or hard. And like I said, it's good to have more or less the same reactions in many races, because that way you can concentrate more on the settings.
Why did you make this choice of tires, when on Friday you were thinking more about the hard?
“For the performance side. Even though the hard one seemed okay, it wasn't good enough in terms of pure speed. With Guy, we saw that each time I put the software on I went much faster. We had the advantage of having a little less heat during the race, so that reassured us in this choice of software.”
You said you weren't able to catch Petrucci because he had good pace at the end. Did you manage to contain Pedrosa or was he coming back?
" No no. At one point I had a 2,5 second lead so I wasn't worried about losing them, although in the end I gave up more than a second because I let up on the last lap since I felt that I didn't have Petrucci on my hands.
There are two Grands Prix which follow one another with a test in the middle. Are you going to choose to preserve yourself a little or are you going to try to use this test to ride more?
“Ha, the body is in good shape, huh! In any case, I now have the good sensations coming back so I will continue to work on those sensations, and thanks to that, it will allow me to attack Austria at a better pace. The body is in good shape. It’s clear that I’m not going to do 120 laps but it’s not an extra tiring track either.”
Are you going to do race simulations, like in Barcelona?
“I think it will be more of a short run.”
You won't have any new parts?
“No, just feeling.”
Find all of Johann Zarco’s other debriefings here!
Credit ranking: MotoGP.com
