Despite the difficulties encountered in the Sprint of the Japanese Grand Prix MotoGP, Johann zarco is not the type to let go of the piece…
And it worked out rather well for him because, even if he was not really able to benefit from an advantage in the last part of the race by managing his rear tyre better, the recent progress of the RC213V, despite an unfavourable track, allowed him to come back on fabio quartararo in 11th position, then overtaking him at the exit of the last bend when he, once again, ran out of fuel.
At the microphone Canal +, he describes his race in the wake of his compatriot: "We followed each other and he kept his pace well. We saw that we could catch up with Aleix and Miller. And I think that like me, he knew that Miller especially was going to have trouble at the end of the race because he generally eats up the rear tire quite a bit. But I wasn't able to be any closer to Fabio or try to overtake him and then maybe attack the others. That's tough in fact: at one point, you find yourself a bit blocked because the front tire is building up a lot of pressure, and that affects braking a lot, you can't brake late. As soon as you try a bit, you feel that the bike is pushing you and you can miss the turn, and as soon as you miss a turn, well you lose a lot of time. So, I tried to control it, but I expected a bit better with the rear medium. In the end, I didn't have an advantage halfway through the race, and I still struggled a bit at the end. Fabio, he had the fuel problem at the exit of the last corner. Unbelievable! I go out, I try to go out well, telling myself I'm going to have a little more traction, and then his bike went "Woum", it almost stopped. I had a little smile anyway (laughs) because it's always better 11 than 12. It's cool. We got closer, there we raced with the Yamaha, we finished with a KTM which is Miller, Aleix wasn't far behind either. We had pretty much the same problems as them, let's say, in terms of tire wear. It was a bit hard because I was hoping for a second wind in the race that I couldn't get."
The next Grand Prix will take place on the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, the site of his only MotoGP victory. Good memories, but above all a track with long curves on which the Frenchman is counting on a lot to take another step...
"Well maybe, it can be a bit like Mandalika: if we hang on to the others, we follow them, because still when we are behind the others, even if our aerodynamics have improved, we save energy and it is easier to go fast when we are stuck to someone, as if it cuts off all the aerodynamics. It is not an advantage when braking to be behind someone, but in Australia braking is not the problem. And I hope for good weather, because when it is a bit too cold, when there is wind, it is tricky to manage. But yeah, good memories, and telling myself "if it is the same sensations as in Mandalika, well it is worth hanging on to try to be in the top 10 again". I have a hard time seeing that we can really do better because we are still a little behind, and we have this deficit in acceleration, that last year, in Phillip Island, I was strong in acceleration, and in fact I controlled my whole race, and when the others had really destroyed tires, I was able to take the advantage. It will be the same case this year, there will be problems with tire wear, and if I can manage, well it is clear that I see that I still have the attack, the desire, and so I do not want to give up. But the same, we have to attack, we will see, but yes, I hope a little better than here in Motegi.”
2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix Results at Motegi:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
