Zarco: “It’s good to have been fast now, it gives you confidence”

Johann Zarco seems determined to make a clean sweep of his disappointment at Silverstone. The Frenchman indeed concluded the first day of the Austrian GP with the best time. If talking about a victory is still premature, Zarco claims to have made a good start: “I am happy with the time. Everyone is really very fast and I think there are ways to do better, but attacking like that allows you to give good information to the team. We will see the conditions tomorrow. If it's a bit complicated, it's good to have been quick now, it gives you confidence. »

The new chicane after turn 1 does not seem to pose a problem for the Ducati rider, who however declares that it will be difficult to attack there during the race. But this has other advantages. “The chicane is interesting,” he said. It will not give the opportunity to overtake better, it will still be much more difficult to do so, but ultimately, it makes turn 3 easier. This allows you to be more regular in your turns. At the time, it was still very difficult braking and as soon as we tried things, we completely missed our turn and had to start the lap again. There, we are much less successful and that makes the circuit almost easier. »

And the Riviera added: “The chicane is very slow, so it gives even more opportunity to use the bike's strengths. It's not a fast enough chicane to give Fabio an advantage and we continue to use the bike better. »

Use the Ducati's strengths 

Le Red Bull Ring has so far very often smiled on the Ducati with six victories against two for KTM and this weekend, Zarco is keen to use the qualities of the Ducati to make the difference against his opponents, even those from his own clan; the Frenchman being the only driver from the Bologna firm to use the ride height device at the rear as well as at the front. “He serves a lot,” Zarco emphasizes. It's a circuit that is almost designed for this system and with the chicane, it works very well. It would be nice if that were an advantage. We are going to think this evening about better tuning the bike so that it becomes so. »

If some of his counterparts like Jorge Martin, Luca Marini or Enea Bastianini have used the new Ducati saddle backrest equipped with fins, Zarco has not yet used it. “We didn't have the opportunity, there aren't enough of them,” Zarco explains. But that's just a detail. The pilots must have had difficulty feeling it. In my opinion, there is an aerodynamic effect which is hard to feel. »