Johann Zarco acknowledges that Joan Mir made the difference with the Honda in Austria, and believes that he was unable to compete with the other riders.
Johann zarco concluded a mixed Grand Prix in Austria, during which there was no "no progress on the bike" according to his words. Having to deal with the situation, he tried to make the most of it and made mistakes in practice and qualifying, which made him say that he now had to agree to evolve further and wait patiently for opportunities to arise.
These didn't happen at the Red Bull Ring, but the Frenchman still came away with five points. After finishing ninth in yesterday's sprint race, he got off to a good start in Sunday's main race and quickly moved into the top 10. He eventually regained his initial 12th place as the race progressed, and remained there until the checkered flag.
"I'm happy to have finished the race and to have taken some points. It's really a way of saying to yourself that you're getting your pay. But I'm not happy with the fact that since Friday afternoon we haven't made any progress on the bike. It really bothered me because I tried to do my best but at one point I couldn't fight.", he told Canal +.
"It's very simple: there wasn't any grip at the back and I was lacking too much acceleration. I was happy with the start, I was able to make my place during the first two braking points. Then you could say that all I had to do was follow the guys in front, but it was impossible to follow them. It's a little disappointing not to have had a good feeling this weekend."
For once, zarco did not finish as Honda's best representative, as Joan Mir achieved his best result with the manufacturer by finishing sixth. The Frenchman did not want to hide behind their bike differences and accepted that he finished behind him. "[The official team] tries things, we tried other things. That's difficult to judge now and it would be too easy to say 'he didn't have the same bike and that's why he succeeded'. It must be said that he had a great race and good for him.", he added.
Now it's off to the Hungarian Grand Prix, a big first for the drivers, and the discovery of the Balaton Park circuit from Friday, for FP1.
Austrian Grand Prix results
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
