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 somewhat formatted communication of traditional press releases, the exchanges between the French rider and the journalists in the hospitality of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team (this time in the press room) are rich and informative. simplicity that true enthusiasts will appreciate (you can find all his past debriefings in our section “Interviews").
Johann Zarco, pole position : “I'm very happy because I did a lap at the end of FP4, the track was half dry and half wet, and I didn't have any bad sensations, so that was already encouraging. We said to ourselves that we were going to put two soft tires and that it would give us even better sensations. But in the end, no, it slipped a lot and it was curious. And when I saw that I did 14.9 and 14.1, I told myself that I wasn't going to be able to do better and that I had to try the other tires. It was the only solution I had in mind. And indeed, it worked. (On the other bike) we already had the Hard before and Guy (Coulon) wanted us to start again with the Soft, as we had planned, since we thought that only the front could be limited. But finally, we took the time to change the rear. When I left, I still took the time to do two laps to see if it was good, and I had a good time. I'm happy because I had this feeling that I'm almost no longer afraid of falling: I can control the bike! And indeed, I slid in turn 3, I slid in turn 4, in turn 5, first from the back, then the front, then back again. In other places I was a little slow and tried to straighten and get the bike going again. I had really good feelings and it was 12.7, which is good for being 2nd.”
In the dry, what accounts for the progress you have made since yesterday?
“It was Guy who really managed to understand what I wanted! Guy, also with Ben, Alex, the suspension guy and Alex also on the computer. I think we've been at it for 5 weeks now: we don't disconnect for 5 weeks and we do 3 races in a row. I have the rhythm and I think my comments are perhaps much clearer. I was a little pessimistic and I didn’t think we were going to find it, but they did.”
Did they make you a longer bike?
" I don't know. I just say if it’s better or if it’s worse.”
What exactly were you missing?
“That Grip control on the back. As soon as you entered the corners, the bike would slide. Once it slips, especially the Yamaha, you lose grip on the angle and it's done for. We were able to improve or manage it. Because I said that we can never really improve this Yamaha Grip, but at least control it. Because until now, I had no control. Now I control it.”
It will also be interesting to know if it also works in Valencia…
" Yes on ! It will just be “back to Europe” so we’ll see.”
Find all of Johann Zarco’s other debriefings here!
New starting grid:
1/ zarco – Rossi – Iannone
2/ Dovizioso – Miller-Petrucci
3/ Marquez – Rins- Bautista
4/ Pedrosa – Vinales – A. Espargaro
5/Redding – Pirro – Siméon
6/ P. Espargaro – Smith – Lüthi
7/ Morbidelli – Bradl – Abraham
8/ Nakagami – Syahrin
