Zarco, fourth Friday at Le Mans, but wants more

With a lap of 1'31.148, Enea Bastianini set a new record in MotoGP on the Bugatti circuit, thus dethroning a certain Johann Zarco. 

The Frenchman was just over three tenths behind his Ducati counterpart, but he knows he can do better. “I'm delighted to be fourth, we're saving the furniture,” confides Zarco. We're not sure about the conditions on Saturday morning, whether they'll be too cool to run a 1'31 or not, so getting a good time now was the aim. Bastianini did well, and me behind I also managed this 1'31.5. » 

To make the difference, the Pramac rider admits having to “find two or three things to play with the bike”. However, he claims to have taken a step forward in the afternoon. “At the start of the session, we were not on the right track, and we corrected the situation,” he said. It's difficult for a lot of people, because there are falls, and even though I'm not satisfied I still manage to be among the good ones. »

And to remind: “But this MotoGP category is very condensed, which makes the task difficult. I like the route, I have good feelings, I just would like more. This is where you have to stay calm, because this “more” will not come by getting angry. »

In terms of race pace, Zarco said he was confident. “In FP1 there were twice ten laps and a lot of small 1'32s, but the others have this ability to do a 1'31 with medium tires, he declares. If you run in 1'32.1, but someone else knows how to do 1'31.8, they have an advantage. I think we can have this pace, but we would like to be better on the bike. I don't get too tired so it's possible to have a good rhythm. »

INCREDIBLE IMAGE! 😱@JohannZarco1 crosses the gravel trap at more than 200 km/h and returns to the track by jumping, but without falling 😵#FrenchGP ???????? #MotoGP

▶: https://t.co/Q9uXtTYtRy pic.twitter.com/FWrHUuKZFF

- CANAL + MotoGP ™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) May 13, 2022

In FP2, Zarco gave us a great tightrope walk performance by going straight into the Dunlop chicane, but the Ducati representative made sure to avoid the worst: “I was still a little scared,” he emphasizes. That's when we made adjustments, so I felt better on the bike, which allowed me to try to go harder into the first corner. But I came back too late, and being launched at more than 300 km/h, if you change by one meter, it can quickly become ten meters. I was too wide and saw that I wasn't able to reach the rope, so I had to cut it. I expected the bike to stay stable in the gravel, but it started moving. I tried to accelerate to stabilize it, but it didn't work. I jumped on the track well and was afraid of getting thrown off when touching up the asphalt, but it held up. It made a bit of a show, but I too felt hot everywhere. »