Titled, he was in 2015, but, often against general opinion, he decided to put his world crown back on the line. A winning bet which, associated with a promising debut in MotoGP, today gives him an aura which he intends to use well.
But it would be a poor understanding of man to think that he thinks only of himself. No, on the contrary, Johann Zarco intends to use his notoriety as much as possible to raise awareness among the various political and media stakeholders to have a more open attitude towards motorcycle sport in France, in order to allow younger people to get involved in it in the best conditions. possible.
This is why, during the press conference organized last week by the French Motorcycling Federation (watch the video questions/answers here), the Yamaha Tech3 rider took the floor, not to ask a question, but rather to make a statement from which we offer you a few extracts…
Johann zarco: “Hello everyone, it's not really a question but it's more to come back to the question from a journalist (editor's note: from Paddock-GP) who asked if a double title could change things a little or has changed things, or if you can use it in your work. We, with Laurent (Fellon), we go to school (ZF Grand Prix) for the little ones. Motorcycling is an adrenaline sport and it is young people who can be attracted to it. There is also Grand Prix objective what the FFM is doing. We try to reach much younger children and bring people back to show that motorcycling is a beautiful sport. Because we don't need to convince the people who are here; we are all passionate and we all want to move in this direction. But the hardest part is convincing those who, for example, make the laws. »
“I'm happy to have been world champion twice and I still have a little glimmer of hope to tell me that a French number one can help change things. »
“We're going to start reaching these people who aren't into motorcycling at all and we're going to be able to press like that. Whether it's to get the kids started, or afterwards, to better manage the adults' situation, or even the everyday motorcycle, because it's true that the Speed can be taken as an example, because that's what is the most publicized. »
“Today, a child of 6, 8 or 12 years old, when he sees a Marquez or a Valentino Rossi, he says to himself “yes, but he is Italian or Spanish and I am French” then he might say to himself “If I’m not Italian, if I’m not Spanish, I can’t reach that high.” So that's why. I realize this image is important. We will make sure to remain efficient, to last as long as possible because personally I hope that it can help you, the FFM, to support people who know nothing about motorcycles. »
What, Jacques Bolle, President of the French Motorcycling Federation, replied: “Thank you Johann. So, in any case, what I really appreciate about you is that you ask yourself questions not only about your season, not only about “how will it work with my team”, etc. You ask yourself questions about motorcycle sport in general, motorcycle activity in general, and in particular I know that you have a very keen eye towards young people, with Laurent. You work on it a lot, because it interests you, and that's not the case for all champions. Champions think about their career first, and then come what may. However, this is not your case, and for me, it is quite special. I really appreciate this approach, and we are helping you both, since you are partners, we are helping you both to set up this school. We participate because we believe in your project; I went down to see what Laurent was doing at an event, and I found it very good. I found that many young people were supportive and responded, and we will of course continue to help you.”
Let us therefore hope that, when the best French Grand Prix rider and the FFM join forces to move in the same direction for the benefit of young people, this will allow our sport in particular and motorcycling in general to be a little less marginalized. in the current media-political environment…
Editor's note: There are still many lessons to be learned from this press conference and we will come back to it regularly.
