Given the delay in the development of his Honda compared to the official one, Johann Zarco admits that he does not know if he will be able to close the gap by the end of the season.
Johann zarco got his head above water somewhat during the sprint race, after a particularly difficult start to the weekend, but knows that nothing is won yet. The Frenchman does not benefit from the upgrades available to the two official Honda riders and must make do with his equipment to take advantage of the RC213V. In view of the rise in power of Luca Marini and, to a lesser extent, Joan Mir, and conversely the drop in the ranking of zarco, these developments really bring something.
Number 5 tried to get out of the back of the standings yesterday by taking a wheel during Practice but was unable to automatically advance to Q2, nor did he do so this morning in Q1. He qualified in 19th place and was expecting a complicated race this afternoon. But he ultimately surprised everyone by posting a good pace.
Having made the best start of the field, he gained six places on the first lap and then moved up to 12th, before gaining two positions thanks to the crashes in front of him. One place out of the points, he finally lost to Enea Bastianini with four laps to go and finished 11th.
If he didn't score any points, zarco wants to focus on the positive aspects of his race, even if the frustration of seeing himself stagnate is great. "I really had a good start, I managed to get past Rins, I didn't have any problems, I was able to get between the riders and I gained a lot of places, so that was great. Afterwards, I was very focused, I had a very good start.", he declared at the microphone of Canal +.
"I feel like I'm ready to fight, and once the others get into their rhythm, I can't keep up. I don't understand why it's getting so difficult to ride the bike. Maybe I'm at a limit and at some point I can't do more. It's not funny to say that it's inhuman to do better than 1'32 because I see that I can ride and fight, but at some point I can't. I have to let the others go and fight with those behind."
"Even if we get beaten, we don't take points, it seems harder and harder, finding this positive can help us move forward because I think there's always better to do, otherwise we wouldn't all be beaten by a Marc Márquez. Afterwards, yes, you also need equipment to perform because you don't race alongside the bike, you race on the bike and the bike has to work. I didn't manage to do that in Hungary, in Barcelona... as soon as you find yourself in front there's joy and it's going fast. There I'm less in front and yet you have to keep the joy so that's where it's very tricky."
“You have to stay calm and tell yourself that it’s not because people are against me.” Johann zarco
Asked about this difference in equipment with the official team, zarco He admits that he is not sure whether any developments will be made to his machine by the end of the season and, if so, whether he will be able to catch up with the others. "Honda is working and wants to help me, but it's not happening in the same way. Things will move forward during the year, but we've clearly fallen behind, and it's very difficult to catch up. Maybe it can't even be caught up."he said.
"That's when I tell myself that it's going to unlock things for me in the future to work hard like that and look for new solutions in settings, in driving. I don't like having to say 'it's not the same, it's not this, it's not that' but at a certain point... In Barcelona, I saw the advantage that I could find in the race and there I see it. You have to stay calm and say to yourself 'calm down Jojo' and it's not because they're against me. You shouldn't take that and put the world on your back and say that they want to harm you, no. It's a big company, there are plenty of things that happen differently."
2025 MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix Sprint Race Results :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
