This Friday March 18, 2022, John Zarco answered questions from journalists from the Mandalika Circuit on the island of Lombok, at the end of the first day of the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French driver who is approaching his Indonesian weekend with great competitiveness in the dry and nevertheless the hope of a race in the wet...
As usual, we report here the words of John Zarco without the slightest formatting, even if it is partially translated (vouvoiement in English, tutoiement in French).
Johann zarco : " A good first day! I had a good feeling in the morning and was happy to be quite competitive with the slick tires and a few wet spots on the track. Normally, with these conditions, Jack Miller is very fast and he made the difference at the start, but when I started doing the laps with the slick tires I was also in front. It was positive because usually I am very careful in these conditions, and here I was careful but fast enough. And in the afternoon I also did a good job with the team: in the first two outings, with the medium tire, it was pretty good and we were able to find something on the bike to get some information and see how to work for tomorrow. Then, we know that attacking the time is important, but after a first good, very regular outing, I also had the feeling to attack, at least for one lap. The three days of testing that we did here are useful because I think our base is much better to start the sessions. We only have to adapt to the new rear tire because it is another carcass that is more resistant to heat and high temperatures. This one may be less efficient on the right side but that doesn't bother me too much, and since I think we did a good job during the last day of testing, I was able to adapt to this tire today. 'today, and it's positive. »
In Qatar, it seems that GP 22 needed a lot of work. Is this still the case or do you understand this bike better?
« It is too early to tell ! Today is only Friday. It is positive to start well and I repeat that I think the test we did is useful to start at a good level now. The Hondas were also pretty good straight away but they finished the test being fast here and good in Qatar. So the 2022 has the potential that we know: maybe we need more time to tune the bike, but here, thanks to the base that we found a month ago, it helps a lot.
»
Even if the conditions are different, the tires are different, the asphalt is different, the weather is different?
« Yes, but the track is the same (laughs)! No, I'm joking, but it's OK. »
Jorge Martín said he worked on the front device. Is this the same for you?
« I didn't work on it. Here I wanted to keep the bike like the 2022 version, and that's why I didn't have any changes, in order to continue working on other things. So yes, I didn't change that in order to keep what we had in the race in Qatar and continue to work. »
You say you haven't changed anything: does that mean you continue to use it or you no longer use it?
« I still use it. »
Some riders say the new rear tires are better, others say they are worse. Can you explain how you feel the difference?
«
In order to be more consistent despite the heat, you need to lose a little grip. It is a harder carcass, and this can give some drivers the good feeling of better feeling that the tire maintains good rigidity, but it loses grip more quickly. So it depends on the style and that's the difference. »
How does new asphalt behave?
«
There are fewer projectiles landing on the visor and neck, and I was able to track a few pilots, but there are still things. The new coating works well. It has pretty good grip so I like it and I would say the old surface isn't too bad but there aren't many options for trajectories. Maybe a little more, because the Moto3 raced, but not much more. »
It seems difficult to overtake here. Will it be important to get to the front as quickly as possible?
«
Yes, I think if you can have just one or two drivers in front of you, it will be the best for the race. Or maybe being the driver in front, but I don't think I'm faster than the others to be able to think about being in front and leading the race. »
Are all your motorcycles the same?
«
Yes. »
Regarding the rear tire, how do you feel about the new construction, and is the medium an option for racing?
« It's too early ! Medium may be an option if soft deteriorates too much. We didn't do many laps with the latter, because I only attacked the clock. Even though the tire construction is different, it seems we don't need to change the bike's settings too much. Adjust small things, yes, but not change the geometry too much. Fabio had a long run on the soft, pretty good, and we'll have to confirm that tomorrow to know if it's a possibility for the race.
»
Does the new casing result in different engine braking settings, because we saw a lot of sliding from the rear when entering corners?
« It's not huge. It's more because sometimes you want to attack when the rear tire is not ready, and some slides were also caused because there were still wet areas on the track. If you think it's completely dry and you hit that full angle area, you lose the rear. This is also a reason why you may have seen some errors. »
Is the heat really hard for you to bear?
« Today was nice because the fact that it rained in the morning made it a little cooler. Finally, it was cooler. Even in the afternoon at 15 p.m., we weren't burning like during the test. It was intense, we sweated a lot, but we've had worse. So today, weather-wise, it was bearable, I'm not going to say pleasant, but bearable. Tomorrow, I don't know what happens, if it's going to rain more or not, and that's why it's good to have had a good time in FP2: if it's wet tomorrow, that allows to take it a little cooler. But it's especially Sunday: even if the heat was bearable today, if we have these conditions at 15 p.m., that's the maximum we can take. If it's hotter at 15 p.m. on Sunday, it's going to be tough for the race. If it's grayer and it might rain, you can move around more to have more fun and not just suffer physically and, as a result, have difficulty managing. Although the track is not the most physical. So, if you have rhythm on this track without getting too tired, it allows you to better manage the heat. Malaysia is much tougher physically. »
You said that overtaking is difficult because there are few possible trajectories?
« Yes, the possible trajectory is a little wider than the one we had during the tests. The track has still been better cleaned, but at the speed at which we are going, we feel that there is really only one good trajectory, and for the race it will be better to have one or two drivers in front of you because that we receive fewer projectiles. But there are still little things that fly and that disturbs you a little. »
Indonesia MotoGP Grand Prix FP2 Results at Mandalika Circuit:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
