The second press conference as a prelude to the 2023 Argentine MotoGP Grand Prix in Portimão hosted Johann Zarco, Alex Marquez et fabio quartararo.
Last week, the Pramac driver finished 4th in the Portuguese Grand Prix by overtaking four drivers in the last two laps and approaches South America with a high goal.
As usual, we report here the words of Johann zarco without any formatting, even if it is translated from English.
You had two incredible last laps in Portimão, overtaking Aleix Espargaró, Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Álex Márquez! What an incredible end to the race!
Johann zarco : " It gave me a lot of pleasure to finish the race this way! The race was long and with 11 laps to go I thought it was going to be very tough. But with five laps to go, I had a better feeling while the others were perhaps starting to experience a degradation of rear grip. This almost gave me an advantage but it wasn't easy to really make up positions lap by lap. And on the last lap, I said to myself “well, it’s now because then it will be too late”.
I knew that at turn 11, where I overtook Aleix Espargaró, I would be able to overtake Brad in the same place. But then, with Álex, I wondered where I could pass him, because I wasn't close enough when braking at turn 13. I didn't expect to dive like that inside at turn 14, but when I saw it widen a little, I had the feeling of turning tight and I told myself that I had to do it. It worked well so I'm very happy with that, and starting the season like that, finishing well, really gives you good motivation.
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This year, qualification is even more important than in previous seasons…
« Clearly! Going straight to Q2 is the first objective, because you save energy on Saturday. But qualification is always a special exercise. There are a few drivers who specialize in this, and so at least the first row is immediately busy. But I missed this qualification: with the soft rear tire, I lacked the feeling to go very fast, and that's also why I was able to obtain a good result but not a very good pace for the podium during of the Sprint. In the long race, with the medium rear tire, I had a better feeling and, with the consistency, I knew I could stay close to the lead. So that will be the objective for this weekend: to go straight to Q2, then see if I can be on the first two rows. This would clearly help for both races and then give a chance for the podium. »
You have already won twice here in Moto2 and the Ducati GP23 was already competitive last weekend. So you can aim for the podium but what about the cold spell that weakened you last weekend?
« The voice is coming back, so it’s very positive! I had like a flu a week ago and it took a long time: I don't want to take medicine to fix it, but it takes time since I didn't rest last weekend. I felt that the body was OK and it was only the voice and the nose that was not very clean.
Here in Argentina I would love to have the pace for the podium. Last year, I expected a lot, because it's a circuit that I like, but I didn't have the slightest feeling during the tests which all took place on Saturday and the rest on Sunday. I expected to be ready, but I wasn't. So it's a new challenge this year, and if I can get the rhythm, that will be great. »
During this winter, you started working with Grégory Mallet, former Olympic swimmer: How does this relationship work and what does it bring you?
« We have spoken with Greg for many years and have known each other, and after his swimming career he started doing mental preparations. And with all the journey that there has been in the sport, I like to share the feeling with him. It's just like trying to send a better message to the mind, and with all the experience I've had, finding that confidence again in what I can do. We both work on this: Mental preparation. It's always difficult to be able to really say what we do but our collaboration has this objective. »
