“Johann Zarco would have signed with Suzuki! »
In the French clan, there is no doubt; Johann Zarco has signed “something” with Suzuki.
Rollback:
2015 current, the doors open for the future Moto2 world champion. In particular at Pramac (already in 2014) and at Aspar.
At the time, despite the outbursts of Hector Barbera, the Ducati solution did not seem the most promising. Indeed, at Aspar, we propose major means with the full support of the HRC; neither more nor less than the 213 Honda RC2015V of Marc Marquez, but above all the permanent provision of two HRC engineers, word of Livio Suppo, present at the meeting between the Spaniards and Michel Rey, the main sponsor of Johann Zarco.
But nothing happens, Laurent Fellon is not interested and prematurely ends the negotiations with the Italians and the Spanish; he wants a competitive motorcycle for his foal and prefers that the latter repeats, while waiting for a better offer.
We will obviously not judge the merits of his decision; only time will tell if he was right or not...
2016 : The Suzuki rumor was born during the off-season but gained momentum during preparations for the Sunday Ride Classic; Johann Zarco refuses to ride a Yamaha and is looking for a Suzuki all over Europe.
Little by little, we learned that the French rider had an agreement to test the GSX-RR this summer, then that he could participate in the Suzuka 8 Hours for the Hamamatsu firm. Harassed by journalists, the two parties confirmed with lip service: “Yes, there is something”…
What ? We do not know.
Laurent Fellon is clearly confident. " Don't worry. You’ll see,” he tells us at Le Mans. But what ?
At the end of this Le Mans weekend, a whole host of presumptions lead us to believe that Johann Zarco does indeed have a strong chance of riding a Suzuki next year. Here's why:
In negotiations between teams and drivers almost always a third party is involved. And not just any one; Dorna!
The Grand Prix promoter's desire is to offer the best possible spectacle to spectators. Not out of philanthropy, one suspects, but that doesn't matter; the more attractive the show, the more satisfied spectators it will attract!
And that's why, Dorna would like an “ideal” grid in 2018; 6 factories each fielding 4 motorcycles: 2 official and 2 satellites.
Currently, Honda supplies 5 motorcycles, Ducati 8, Yamaha 4, Aprilia and Suzuki 2. For KTM, we will see later, but Suzuki, which already presents competitive motorcycles, is requested to supply at least one satellite motorcycle next year, despite the factory's reluctance.
For this purpose, the LCR team seems ideal for several reasons.
– He only owns one motorcycle,
– Cal Crutchlow’s performances are more than average,
– Lucio Cechinello can unilaterally break the contract which binds him with the British pilot,
– The boss of the LCR team has always wanted to have a second bike, which he would more than likely obtain if he abandoned Honda in favor of Suzuki.
This list is not exhaustive…
In short, a “turnkey” solution
more than suggested by Carmelo Ezpeleta and supported by Davide Brivio, in which Johann Zarco would come and put his backpack before, possibly, moving to the official team in 2018.
For the moment, the ex-Italian pilot reiterates his attachment to Cal Crutchlow; for how long ?
What about an official motorcycle? Aleix Espargaro probably remaining in the saddle, second place is expensive, especially since Maverick Vinales has not yet announced his decision, even if it is probably oriented towards the three tuning forks.
Even if nothing is impossible, the French driver's current performances do not seem to favor this hypothesis...
This appeared to us during the French Grand Prix.
But, as explained in our preamble, in this area things can change from hour to hour…
