Johann Zarco set the fourth best absolute time at the end of the first day of the French GP. He is thus the best placed Frenchman, while Fabio Quartararo must be content with sixth place for the time being. A good result for the Pramac driver, who nevertheless scared himself by shooting straight at the first turn during FP2.
Number 5 answered questions from French journalists at the end of the second free practice session of the day, and we transcribe his entire remarks here.
Johann, what are your feelings at the end of this first day?
«
I'm happy to be fourth, we're saving the furniture well. We are not sure of the conditions we will have tomorrow, and perhaps they will be too cool to allow us to aim for a time of 1'31. So the idea was to set a good time from now on, and I have to say on this subject that Bastianini really set a very good time and that he really secured [his place for Q2]. Personally my time of 1'31.5 was snatched by the force of the wrist, even if there are still two or three things missing to be able to really play well with the bike. But during FP2 I felt a good improvement, because at the very beginning of the afternoon we were not on the right track. In the end, we corrected the situation, and that's impressive. So I'm happy, especially since I can see that it's difficult for a lot of people given the number of falls today. So even if I'm not fully satisfied I still manage to be among the good riders of the day, even though it's once again very close, as always in MotoGP where everyone is condensed all the time, which makes the task difficult. But I like the route, I have good sensations, and I want even more, and that's where I have to stay calm because it's certain that I won't get more by getting angry. »
Did you manage to stay calm when you went straight into the first corner?
« I was still scared, but the fact is that it happened at the moment when we rectified the situation and I started to feel better on the bike. That's why I tried to go harder into the first corner. Unfortunately I think I got into it a little too late, and when you're going over 300 km/h you can't afford to change trajectory even by a meter, and so I found too wide. I quickly saw that I was never going to reach the rope, and therefore I had to cut it. I expected the bike to stay stable in the gravel, but it started to move a lot. I then tried to reaccelerate but it didn't work. So I jumped over the track and I was afraid of getting thrown off when I was about to land on the asphalt, but it held. It was good for the show, and I was actually very hot! I was already in fourth grade, and I wanted to do as little movement as possible. I knew that with the speed I had I couldn't sink into the gravel. It's a good thing I'm doing well, because it's true that when the bike starts moving it's scary.
»
How are you in terms of race pace?
« I did ten laps twice, with quite a few times in the low window of 1'32. But as the other drivers already have the ability to do 1'31s with the medium tire, that puts everything into perspective. You may be able to do a 1'31.1 with the soft, if the others are able to do a 1'31.8 with the medium, they are the ones who have an advantage. However, I think we can reach this pace, even if for that I would like to be better on the bike. But I must say that I'm not very tired on the bike, so there is a way to have a good pace. »
You said yesterday that your approach to the weekend was not going to change, even if it was the French GP, and you just said that you shouldn't get upset...
« It's me, I get angry all the time! But the competitive spirit takes over the fact that it is the French GP. On the other hand, when you are fourth like me today, you take more advantage of the lap to greet the people who are there. »
