Johann Zarco is now a Honda rider, having made the choice to leave a Ducati brand which, in 2023, achieved a remarkable feat by allowing no less than six of its riders to win a race, which constitutes a record for just one season in the MotoGP era. Among the two Ducati riders who did not win a Grand Prix, Alex Marquez still took two Sprint victories, while Luca Marini obtained his first podium in the premier class. A Marini who also chose to go to the HRC camp, for a factory RC213V while the Frenchman will have to settle for a position within the LCR satellite team. But he firmly believes in it.
Johann zarco so let go of the prey Ducati for the shadow Honda, but since then he has never missed an opportunity to undermine this feeling of a bet so crazy that it seems lost in advance. To convince, he first starts with the good results from his 2023 season at Pramac: “ It's really nice when we think back on this season and the pretty podiums that Martin and I shared together », declared the Frenchman on crash.net. " I started this season well and got more points than Jorge, but since his victory in the Sprint race at Le Mans, Jorge has been incredible, almost never leaving the podium and fighting for the title ».
He recalls : " we couldn't have expected to also challenge for the teams title at the start of the season, perhaps thinking that Ducati factory duo Pecco and Bastianini would have taken the most points. So I'm quite proud to have been part of it ". A feat made possible because, also, and undoubtedly above all, Ducati has created a versatile motorcycle that allows all riders to win races and fight for podiums…
Johann Zarco: “ it only takes one change, or a few changes to take the bike to the top »
« What Ducati did that was incredible, is to create a motorcycle on which all riders can win. They give each rider the opportunity to win races and fight for podiums, finding good sensations on the bike for everyone. This is where they were fantastic » analyzes the MotoGP winner since the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Sure, but Johann zarco assures that the other MotoGP manufacturers are not far behind and that just a few changes could bring them to the top too: “ when we analyze everything, the performance difference is not that big with Ducati and that’s what gives others a lot of hope. Because it will be a change, or a few changes, that will also bring the other bikes to the top ».
Less than Johann zarco now goes from the first manufacturer in the MotoGP hierarchy to the one at the bottom of the ranking dedicated to brands, moving to Honda LCR. He had ranked 17th, but one second from the top, with the satellite RC213V during the Valencia tests, and he will meet the Japanese machine again during the Valencia tests. Sepang early next month.
