Sixth this morning and fifth this afternoon with worn tires at the end of the session, Johann Zarco proved to be the fastest of the Yamaha riders during this first day in the wet at Motegi.
He finished in fifth position in the provisional standings and, with rain expected at least on Sunday, if not for the entire weekend, the French driver was able to boost his confidence in the wet, while also starting to undertake the work of adjusting his motorcycle in preparation for a Sunday race that was humid to say the least.
On this Friday evening, he appears as the first independent driver, just 4 tenths behind the key leading trio in preparation for Sunday's race. Notably, he finished the day just 0.407 behind the top three and as the leading independent driver.
Johann zarco : “I feel good and I am happy to be in Japan. It's a shame to have bad weather, but nevertheless, I think it could be an advantage for me. FP1 went well but then it was even better this afternoon. The other riders were really fast and Dovizioso had an incredible time, but as I'm not far behind him I'm satisfied. I always have to work more with the team to feel as strong as possible on the bike, because you can be fast on one lap, but the most important thing is to be fast on all laps, especially if it's raining. I'm working on it and I have to stay focused, so we'll see if I can improve in FP3 tomorrow. Regardless, being in the top ten is the main point right now. When it rains it can be quite difficult with a MotoGP at full power, because of the water on the track, and there is a lot of slippage. However, we can see that the tires are working really well and, together with the suspension and the bike, we have a strong feeling because this circuit has very good grip. If it stays like this for Sunday, it will be advantageous but we are already working positively. »
Kohta Nozane also impressed in the morning (see here) by immediately getting the better of his compatriot Takayuki Nakasuga. Of course, the latter has a laboratory motorcycle and the conditions which reigned today on the Japanese circuit were undoubtedly far from ideal for testing this or that development.
But in any case, we cannot take away from Kohta Nozane the fact that he was ahead of the two official Yamaha riders for a very long time…
Kohta Nozane : “The first day went very well and it was both enjoyable and exciting to compete against the fast MotoGP riders, and that's good. I have confidence in myself and although it's only the first day and it's too early to say where I will finish, I feel positive. Motegi is my local track as my house is not very far from here. Tomorrow it will be cloudy and conditions could be dry, so the other drivers will be faster. However, I'm really loving this moment and will do my best for Sunday's race. »
#JapanesGP MotoGP FP2 Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net :
