This Thursday June 16, 2022, Johann zarco answered journalists' questions from the Sachsenring circuit ahead of the German Grand Prix.
The French driver occupies 4th position in the world rankings since Barcelona.
As usual, we report here the words of Johann zarco without the slightest formatting, even if it is partially translated (vouvoiement in English, tutoiement in French).
Johann zarco : " Nothing special to say before the Sachsenring. Last year, I have good memories with pole position. The race had been interesting, but I hadn't been able to have a very good race, as if we were missing something, and that was a shame. I have more of this feeling of wanting to make up for this kind of mistake from last year. It was kind of a strategy that we had established with the team, and it didn't work very well.
Then, it's a special circuit! It's positive for us not to have Marc this weekend, clearly, that's one more place to grab on the podium, and maybe make history by winning after him (laughs)! These are my first thoughts before starting the race weekend.
Now I know my bike better and better, we were able to see it in Barcelona, where I was able to try different things. I'm pretty fast with different settings, so that means I'm getting more and more comfortable with the bike. I really hope that we will work even better here. »
Were you able to analyze with your team why the hard tire did not give you an advantage at the end of the race in Barcelona?
« Yes. I was really hoping to have an advantage at the halfway point, or even in the last five laps. What we could see was that by just following the pace of the first guys, I was asking too much of that rear tire. Since there was a lack of grip on the sidewall, I had to slide a lot, not too much, but a lot of sliding to keep up with the others, and I burned my tire more than expected. But I couldn't give up and wait. So it's positive that I was the only one to do a decent race with the hard rear tire, but I didn't have the advantage that we could have had. »
Isn't that because the race was faster than last year?
« No, I think the pace has been slower than what we had last year. We knew it would be more or less around 40, and during testing I think I was able to do low 40s, so we really believed it was going to work. Maybe the race conditions were a little different, but we also didn't expect the medium to work so well for the others, so we had like a change between Saturday and Sunday. »
Apart from the departure of Jack Miller for KTM, there is still no news regarding the future at Ducati?
« I think we are well in line at Ducati, and there is also this situation with Bastianini, Martín, and I am also there! I think Ducati has the choice and they are in no hurry to make the right choice, also because taking someone from a factory team is something important: it would be easier to only consider the results but it 'is too big a manufacturer to judge on that alone. They also have to take many other things into account. Personally, I am very happy with Pramac and, yes, this should continue. We will see that there is one more place. If I win the next three races, or the two before the break, maybe then I will give the factory a problem, who will say “Ah, another one!” (Laughs). »
Are you going to use parts tested in Barcelona here?
« I haven't spoken with my mechanics and technicians yet to see and know if we are going to use anything from the Barcelona test, but the basis of the bike and its potential is still very high. What we tried was interesting, so I'll have to see, but I think I'll have a bike more technically similar to the one I used during the race weekend than the one I used in the test.
»
What do you think of Jack Miller's move to KTM?
« At KTM, I had a tough experience two years ago, then I was very impressed by the change made in 2020: they made a winning bike! Also last year, in four races, Oliveira scored 80 points. This year they are struggling a lot more than last season, and these ups and downs of KTM is something special, and maybe at Ducati we have a little more consistency. We now have a lot of bikes but we have proven, or Ducati has proven, that they can have good consistency.
As for Jack going there, it's a challenge anyway! »
