Sunday 18 September 2022, Johann zarco answered questions from journalists from the Motorland Aragón circuit at the end of the Aragón Grand Prix.
The French driver takes some positives from his weekend after the bad feeling felt at Misano. He is now 6th in the championship.
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is partially translated (vouvoiement for English, tutoiement for French).
Johann zarco : " For me, eighth position is not the best but it is better than nothing, much better than what I was able to do in Misano. And compared to Misano, the feeling was better throughout the weekend, but not good enough to be able to think about the podium. I really expected to be able to have the pace for the podium but clearly I had the same problems in the group, different trajectories which are not helping me to fight against the others at the moment and which are not very the Ducati works well. So I have this kind of problem at the moment, I'm trying to work on it, but clearly it doesn't come very easily. In the race, there was a moment when I tried to overtake Jorge but he immediately passed me. It was a sort of key moment in the race because at that moment my pace was very good and I could have stayed with Jack, but Jorge was holding his lines well and then we lost contact. It's a bit of a shame to have missed sixth and maybe fifth place, because at that point in the race I could make the difference. But afterward, you have to remember the positive. I'm happy to have given my all, much better than in Italy. »
Is it a driving style problem?
« I don't want to go into details. I just wish I had a better feeling and was stronger. »
Did you see the first lap accident?
« Yes, clearly. I think my start wasn't bad and when braking I saw Marc on the outside, and also Fabio. I thought I could pass on the inside of Fabio at turn 2, but I know he's quite fast at the start of the race, so I preferred to stay a little safe. He was surprised by Marc's trajectory, because he had made a better exit at turn 3 and Marc went completely to the right to prepare for the left turn. The accident was huge and I had to slow down to avoid Fabio and the bike. Then I immediately saw a piece of fairing in Marc's bike and that's why he lost the rear in turn 5. So Martin passed me and then I was OK behind Martin, and I saw the incident with Nakagami later in the box. Nakagami was able to be avoided by a lot of guys. I think Marc exaggerated a little too much. I love his style and for me it's the strongest, and I said on Thursday that he would be very strong, but to move like that in the race when he feels that he has a problem on the bike after the contact with Fabio, maybe it was too much. It was a crazy first lap, and I don't like to say that because I like Marc, but just because of one guy, but today he was like beyond the limits. »
He said the fairing piece was stuck and came to rest on the rear tire when he engaged the ride height device…
« This is a way to find a reason for the accident and not put all the blame on him. I don't want to say that all the fault is his, clearly he had something on the bike but he already had it at turn 5. Personally, when I saw him slide at turn 5, I thought that he was going to slow down at turn 6 and maybe try to figure out what was happening to the bike. But he insisted for a long time since he was still riding at turn 16. So maybe it was the device or something, but something was already in the bike at turn 5.
»
He said he didn't feel anything at turn 5, but only when he engaged the ride height device...
« So it's his words against mine. As he is stronger than me, his words will be more important (laughs).
»
Johann Zarco then summarizes his race in French…
« I gave it my all, and that still remains a first satisfaction. Afterwards, the difficulties I have remain the same, and in fights it doesn't help me at all. Otherwise, the race was OK, I had a good pace today. I tried to pass Jorge but the only moment I passed him he immediately passed me again, and as a result I couldn't get a gap on him when I had the chance . Too bad we didn't manage to realize this opportunity at that point in the race: it was just after the halfway point of the race. There you have it, a decent weekend after Misano where I had a lot of difficulties. It was a good thing. »
What did you miss during the race?
« I don't want to go into details, because it annoys me. So, I turn my back and try to progress. »
How do you approach Japan?
« I'm happy to go to Japan. It's been a long time since I've been there. Memory, that's where I returned the suitcases with KTM, 3 years ago, and as a result I didn't go to Japan in 2019, and we haven't been there since. So happy to find this circuit which has often been successful for me and where I regularly have good sensations. It's a pleasure to go to Motegi! »
Results of Qualifying 1 of the Aragón MotoGP Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
