MotoGP
Zarco "much happier and more motivated" than expected at Honda
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The French rider made no secret of it, he expected his season at Honda to go even worse than what he experienced in 2024. If his place as the best representative of the Japanese brand in the championship is not such a big surprise, given his quality of analysis and development of a particularly reluctant machine this year. Johann Zarco beat his teammate Takaaki Nakagami and the two official Hondas of Joan Mir and Luca Marini.
Looking back on his first season with Lucio Cecchinello's team, the double Moto2 World Champion was more satisfied than he could have expected after his first ride on the Honda RC213V in Valencia in November 2023, a few days after the last Grand Prix of the season.
"I come away much happier and more motivated than I would have thought last year", he explained. “I was afraid of sinking, and not at all, it’s quite the opposite. It was a mission and a personal challenge that I wanted to do for myself after having missed it in 2019 with KTM. I opened up some really interesting new doors for myself. Fortunately, we improved at the end of the year, otherwise it would have been really difficult. I had announced that I wanted to finish in the top 10 and I couldn’t even get into the points. So I should have had to revise my objectives downwards, but being able to get what I wanted at the end of the season did me a world of good. I’m gaining Honda’s trust little by little. Once I have gained it, it can last as long as I keep performing.”
A hard tire that did not bring satisfaction
In this last round of the 2024 season, the No. 5 was slightly disappointed with his choice of rear tire. Zarco had indeed tried to fit the hardest tire in the range offered by Michelin, in order to make a comeback at the end of the race, against competitors who started on soft or medium. Unfortunately, the hard tire did not perform as well as expected at the end of the event.
"At the rear, the hard didn't provide any advantage at the end of the race, because it lost performance almost at the same time as the soft tyre. I tried to do everything I could, but I couldn't keep up the pace at the start. It's a shame because it started very well, and it ended better than it has since the start of the season, but I lost too much time at the start of the race to fight for a place in the top 10. It was worth trying, because if it had been the opposite situation I would have made a superb comeback at the end of the race."
Martín World Champion: "It's good like this"
After spending three seasons at the Pramac team with Jorge Martín as a teammate, Johann Zarco was obviously happy to see the Spaniard triumph this Sunday and become World Champion. MotoGP, the first to achieve this feat with an independent team since Valentino Rossi in 2001.
"It's great for him, great for Pramac. It's what I wanted and I'm happy that it happened like that. He managed very well, that's how it had to be done. Pecco has been doing well in the last three races, but unfortunately he was behind. It's good like that."
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Daniel
20/11/2024 at 03:32 a.m.
Hello to all the fans, As usual, Johann says what needs to be said, the work done this year is correct, yes Honda could have done more, brought more resources that work, but it was correct for Johann, a good rider, who works and who allows his team to move forward, and Honda to progress, there is still work to be done of course, but he is a courageous rider who never complains in front of the media in general and respects his employer, Not many people remember his hard work at Ducati Pramac in 2023 especially, always trying hidden developments for Mr. Gigi, but he respected Ducati until the end, and yet the future was dark.... Continue Johann to work and have fun, it will always do us a lot of good..... Long live Moto GP, Long live Johann and thank you again....