Johann zarco having already explained to us the genesis of his very fine initiative during the first part of this interview, he now comes to the advantages of the Cartagena circuit itself.
The French rider already knew it, having ridden there in January this year and last year. The track is balanced and quite complete, with a lot of braking on the angle, elevation and even a banked curve.
As outside observers, we were particularly impressed by the rhythm of Johann zarco, almost as fast as in the Grand Prix, while in the morning the temperatures were around a dozen degrees in the air. Basically, one lap was enough for him to understand the grip of the track and attack on the next pass. In this area, the two drivers MotoGP et Moto2, Johann zarco et Barry Baltus, made the difference compared to others.
The two women Johann zarco explains to you himself what such a ride on a production motorcycle can bring, before approaching other facets, and of this Spanish experience, and of the news of the MotoGP rider.
So it's going well, as we saw yesterday, with typical Spanish weather of 19° in December, but also an interesting circuit from a technical point of view...
Johann zarco : "Yes, a technical track that I know, and that's why I was happy to come to Cartagena, because I know that in winter it can be a bit chilly even if the weather is nice, but a balanced "left-right" track where I already had training there in January 2024 and January 2023. So, I have references and I know that Acosta has trained a lot here. Aldeguer too, and I see how their riding evolves, what they also have to develop a bit naturally, what I also miss a bit, this feeling on the front, and I find that it's a track that lends itself to it. So, it's both fast to take advantage of the CBR 1000, but not too big so as not to wear out the bike too much. Finally... we don't push the bike to the limit, and that really allows us to do quality laps. So yes, this track is a bit ideal for me, for what I'm looking for, for safety, let's say the temperature of the tires, the start-up of the whole machine, and let's say cheap, with the restaurant that is there and that provides us with sandwiches. There is everything you need easily."
What you are personally working on in your riding here is to be less tense on the bike?
“Yes, that's it. I put my cardio on the bike because I know that I am capable of going fast, but each time with a certain amount of tension on the bike, and the goal is to gain even more speed, or already ride at the same speed but with less tension. Because if I put less tension on the bike, I have a hard time saying but I immediately lose almost a second or a second max, whereas by putting less tension I should lose at the limit only 2 tenths, and that's where it becomes very interesting because it's a bit of the key in Moto GP to be consistent.”
“There, you have already improved your best time here…
Yes. Surprised, so very happy about that, because in fact I arrived with feelings in mind to develop, but finally, between January 24 and December 2024, well there was the season on the Honda, on which I think I progressed on my feelings, on the riding. And there, I arrived in fact by almost directly applying this style of riding, which I had also tried to work on in Aragon in August with the CBR, and in fact from the first run I was in super good references, and when I put on a new tire, in fact I beat my times. And that's cool because I had pushed a lot more in January 24, and that means that in fact, my technique has progressed.
To be continued very soon…
Johann Zarco Cartagena
