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…
In the hierarchy of championship circuits, where do you place Assen?
“The memory I have of Assen, at the start it was a circuit where I struggled in the 125cc. On the other hand, in Moto2, I set a crazy time in 2015 and I won the race in good fashion too. It didn't happen again in 2016 because we had a slightly shortened race. So it's hard to say. There I see that in Moto2 and MotoGP, there is a big difference between a timed lap and a race pace. And that's something you have to be careful about and that's why, in my opinion, Rossi is often at the forefront, because he knows in advance the pace that will be in the race and he already manages to stick to that. It allows him to be better in the race.”
Do you think that the work you did during testing in Barcelona can also help you to be competitive on this track?
" Yes. I hope. But above all on the rider side, character, peace of mind on the bike, because on the evolution of the settings, better understanding the bike, that's Guy you have to ask. But for my part, I got back into better mental conditions.”
Is the beard to hold the helmet?
“Yeah, he’s depressing the guy. He's no longer in front so he doesn't shave anymore (laughs). No, it's just that I forgot to shave, because I don't care anymore.
The test in Barcelona was more in driving mode…
" Yes. Now, regarding the purpose of Monday's testing, I told the team “FP1, FP2, FP3, 5 laps, now I know how to do it. If at any given moment we are in a bit of a loss, we have to get back into the 10s. I know how to do that too. We start to manage and we are competitive”. Unfortunately, that's 2 races where we had too much difficulty in the race, and ultimately it's Sunday's race that's the most important moment. So on Monday I wanted to go out on the track and do some long runs, and I almost did two race simulations to see what we could change and what I could approach differently. I wanted to do a sort of reset on a race length.”
Was it positive?
" Yes ! During the first race test, we were on podium pace, then, when we tried another tire, we were like Sunday. It also allowed me to see my reaction on the bike and to see that after more than 20 laps I can arrive very fresh. It all depends on how I put pressure on myself.”
So you were able to detect what the problem was during the race?
“There is increasing racing stress, and lately it has perhaps increased too much, which has taken away my potential.”
You can find all of Johann Zarco's daily debriefings in our section “Interviews"
