At a press conference, the three men who arrived on the podium were asked what they thought of Johann Zarco's start to the race...
Maverick Vinales : » if I except the first turn, because it almost crashed into me, that's good (laughs). Very fast, quite impressive, because I was behind and I wondered " who is it? Folger or Zarco? “ . It was difficult to understand, he was attacking so much, he did the best lap in the race, I think. (sigh) I didn't understand because at that moment, I was struggling so much. I've seen him do really well, honestly, I have to say " Congratulations " because it's not easy to leave like that. You know, he can make a mistake, because he's a Rookie. He led the race and had the fastest lap, so " Congratulations“. He must continue like this and, for sure, he is on the right path. »
Andrea Dovizioso : » yes, of course, in every test he was very fast, just like Folger. They will therefore be very competitive during the season. Of course, they have a good bike, but also, they don't have the MotoGP experience to handle everything, and so it's normal that they can make mistakes. And, in particular, I think he had a soft tire like me, so I think he was leading and trying to attack because he wanted to go fast, but 20 laps is different. As I did, it was impossible to attack from start to finish, so he made his decision and he was very fast. For sure he will be very fast in the future, but maybe he attacked too much at this point in the race. »
Valentino Rossi : » Zarco was very impressive. Very very strong. I was curious about his performance in MotoGP because last year we always worked with Franco Morbidelli, and he always told me that he always does something special in Moto2, and especially in the 10 final laps. And he always told me to be careful because he would also be fast with a MotoGP. I think he made a mistake due to lack of experience, with difficult conditions, but it is nevertheless a great result, a great performance. »
Photo credit: MotoGP.com
