An encouraging top 6 for Zarco in Sprint: “It was a great fight”

Si fabio quartararo Johann Zarco, who is the star of the show this weekend at Le Mans, also had a great sprint race, finishing just two places behind his compatriot. However, ten positions separated the Yamaha rider, who was the day's poleman, from the LCR Honda protégé, who started 11th.

Johann Zarco missed out on qualifying directly for Q2 on Friday, crashing just minutes from the end of the practice session, costing him his place in the top 10 by less than two tenths of a second. The Cannes driver made up for it on Saturday morning by setting the fastest time in Q1 to reach Q2, where he could only manage 11th after another crash.

A starting position that was less good than expected, but which allowed him to fight for the points in the Sprint. Zarco, 10th after a good start, then took advantage of the falls in front of him by Brad Binder (KTM), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and especially Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), which allowed him to move up to 7th place.

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Zarco is not comfortable with his Honda

Nothing else was possible for the Frenchman, who was quickly distanced by the Viñales-Acosta duo in front of him, until the Spaniard from KTM fell on the last lap and left 6th place to Johann Zarco, who wasn't asking for much. "It was a great fight. I wanted to fight well and I managed to do it well," Zarco rejoices on Canal+.

“Maintaining the pace was difficult, we were a few tenths short of catching the front group with the KTMs. They were able to fight but still go a little faster than me. I still had more speed than yesterday, but I still wasn't confident enough, I was afraid of sliding in a lot of corners. It's difficult to want to let go but to feel that you're at the limit.”

"We'll have to see if I can find even more relaxation tomorrow. These 13 laps are very important for tomorrow, though. I'm still very happy with this sixth place. Since the beginning of the year, I've been rather unsuccessful in my sprint races, but today I went into battle and took everything there was to take. So I'm very happy with that." continues Zarco, who is not yet 100% comfortable on his bike.

“If the conditions are dry on Sunday, I need to continue to find confidence on corner entry. I don’t dare get closer on corner entry because I know I can’t really slow the bike down anymore. So it’s difficult. If I have more confidence on the front tire, it could allow me to maintain the pace I had today with more relaxation and gain a few tenths so I can hang on to the riders in front. Being in the top 10 and scoring big points is the goal tomorrow.” he concluded.

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