On this Friday, October 23, Johann zarco answered questions from journalists from the Motorland Aragón circuit at the end of the first day of the Teruel Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French pilot.
As usual, we report here the words of Johann zarco without the slightest formatting, even if the first part is translated from English (vouvoiement).
Johann zarco : " I would say that I'm a little disappointed with this day because I'm not in the top 10, and all the Ducatis are struggling as well. So it's not very positive when I clearly think we're functioning quite well. So it's a bit of a shame. With the new things I tried and the new tire I made some progress, but even with the new tire I'm not yet able to fully exploit the extra grip we have for two laps. And above all, in the fast corners, I think that was our weak point today. That's why I'm disappointed, but maybe we can take away some good things that we'll continue to build on tomorrow. So it's half and half: positive because we're working on the things that are really interesting, but not thrilled because we're still too far away. »
What could be the reason why the Ducati are struggling so much here?
« I don't know ! We expected to be much better on this track. Last week the problem was the cold but today it was under control and we didn't see any falls. It was good, but we clearly lack passing speed in the fast corners while everyone else has it and uses it well. Maybe today we are in better condition with the used tires than with the new tires and we are able to fight for the top 8 during the race. It would seem possible now, but we can't go that far if we want to fight for the top 8. »
Is this something linked to the new Michelin tire?
« I don't know. Maybe we need to adapt to this tire, because we have it and we will have it again next year. The work we have done so far is good and Ducati will not stop until we understand how to properly control this tire. Personally, I only know this one, and that's why I can't say whether it's the Ducati or the tire: I only know the Ducati with this tire. But we will find! On some tracks, we are very strong while on others it is much more complicated, like today. »
How is your neck, because you feel a little stuck?
« It's quite curious. At the beginning of the week, I had a bit of a cold and I was almost a little worried about whether I was going to test positive or not. And I'm always negative, so it's just that I was a little taken aback, I think because of a little cold snap. But the neck takes time to recover. We're relaxing it a lot, but I think I really took a bad hit in the fall on Friday. »
Have you tried the new Öhlins shock absorber?
" No idea ! I didn't see that there was anything new. We did suspension tests. There are some good things to take and some not so good, but I can't say if it was the new thing that the others tried or not. »
FP1/FP2 classification of the Teruel MotoGP Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
