Dream start to the season for Johann Zarco, fabulous in Thailand

Since joining Honda at the start of 2024, Johann Zarco hasn't had much to celebrate, stuck at the back of the grid with the worst bike on the grid. So the Tricolore certainly enjoyed the ovation the LCR garage gave him when he returned after a successful Thailand Grand Prix (7th). It was quite simply the Cannes native's best performance since joining the Japanese manufacturer's satellite team, after a generally positive race for Honda.

"I'm very happy. The first ten laps were very difficult." reacts Johann Zarco after the race at the Canal+ microphone. “At one point I was struggling a bit, but I said to myself, ‘be patient, they’re going to lose a bit of speed and that’s when you’re going to get the advantage back.’ I managed my medium rear tyre well, but I expected us to lose a bit of pace. In the end, as the others weren’t accelerating, I wanted to keep my pace to gain as much space as possible.”

ALSO READ > Thailand – Race: Marquez brothers double the stake

Bezzecchi praises Zarco after their duel

Johann Zarco's performance was made possible by a supersonic second half of the race, which made him the second fastest rider on the track in the final laps, behind Marc Marquez, no less. Having caught up like a bullet on Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha), the oldest rider on the grid took a few laps to pass, losing time to Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) in front of him. Once the Australian had passed, Johann Zarco began to close in on the Italian.

"I had a hard time attacking Jake Miller and then I wondered if I could also catch Marco Bezzecchi or not. I suspected that I would catch him, but at what cost?" decrypts Zarco. "When I got behind him, I wondered if I was going to find an opening. I think he had saved a bit of fuel to be able to accelerate on the last lap. It's a great race but it was very, very hot and sometimes you wondered how you could get to the end. I'm really, really happy."

ALSO READ > Relive the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix with live commentary

“Johann is always super fast at the end of the race when he feels good with the bike.” greets Marco Bezzecchi, who managed to hold on to his 6th place at the last minute for his debut with Aprilia. His riding style is very good for the tires. I was managing and I saw him coming back lap after lap: first he was 1”6, then 1”1, then 0”5… So I told myself that he was going to arrive quickly. I accelerated and braked harder to manage to keep him behind. In the end I finished in front of him and I am happy about it.

With 9 points, Johann Zarco is in 8th place in the world championship, while he had only scored 56 points over the entirety of last season. The future seems brighter than the past for him and for Honda.

🎙️ “It’s been a great race… We were wondering how we were going to get to the end!”

Johann Zarco debriefs his race 🤩#ThaiGP | #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/YqSVmG2Rtm

— CANAL+ MotoGP™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) March 2, 2025