Last year, the French Grand Prix was a turning point for a Johann zarco then on Yamaha which experienced a halt in its hitherto interesting journey. This season, his new team KTM wishes that the same deadline at home would be a new step in his adventure with her. But for the best, hoping that the worst has been experienced. The roadmap has been drawn up, and it is team manager Mike Leitner who reveals it…
At KTM, we await with interest the Italian Grand Prix this weekend after a performance at Le Mans which gave wings, regardless of the presumed effects of the drink which serves as its title investor. At the same time, if all the interest will be on the spearhead Pol Espargaro, the level of performance of Johann zarco will also have the full attention of the Mattighofen factory: “ it would be good if Johann had a serious chance to fight in Q2. This is our approach. Our goal is to reach the top ten positions in the race. We have already done this twice with Pol this year. It's a shame that one side of the box is moving forward and the other is having problems. Johann will have to adapt to the existing equipment. Because as long as there is a teammate who gets better results, it's difficult... ».
That being said, there is also understanding at KTM: “ I saw what Lorenzo experienced at Ducati for a first season in 2017 " highlighted Leitner. " At Honda, things are not going well for him. Sometimes riders cannot use new motorcycles immediately. Valentino arrived at Ducati in 2012 and did not find a recipe with this bike. The other riders struggled with the Ducati. Johann Zarco is not an isolated case with KTM. But for us at KTM it would be important to have a second strong rider in the team, besides Pol, because we would definitely be better off in terms of development. Unfortunately, Johann is having difficulty ».
Coming back to the Frenchman's verbal incident in Jerez which annoyed a lot of people at KTM, Leitner comment on speedweek : " when you work with Johann, he does not test your nerves by systematically putting pressure » assures Mike Leitner. “ Absolutely not. But he wants to keep moving forward and he can't do it now. It eats away at him. This hurts him – and hurts the whole team. That's why we need to make sure that we can find a good solution for it soon ».
At Mugello, the latest developments in terms of engine and chassis already attributed to Pol Espargaro will be available to French people.
