Johann Zarco proud of his departure to Catalonia: "A real pleasure to leave like this"

Johann Zarco secured a strong 5th place in the sprint at the Catalan Grand Prix, but the result left the Frenchman with mixed feelings. After a remarkable start, the Honda rider briefly climbed to 2nd position before succumbing to the superior pace of the leaders.

Initially, thanks to excellent clutch release and an effective acceleration phase, the Frenchman exploited his second-row position as he wished: "It's a real pleasure to get off to such a good start," smiled the Cannes native after the race in front of the media. Between 100 and 250 km/h, things can get a bit unsettled, the front wheel can wheelie, but this time it went well. Starting in front allows you to take more risks when braking, because there's more space.

Buoyed by this confidence, Zarco did not hesitate to attack Pedro Acosta at the end of the first sector, but to no avail: "Coming out of turn 3, I thought I could move into second place. I saw Acosta being a bit cautious, so I tried the inside line at turn 4, but it didn't work." Because despite this ideal start to the race, Zarco could not resist for long, not yet able to keep up with the pace of Ducati, KTM or Aprilia on the Honda RC213v.

Johann Zarco, however, identified his main weakness on the Barcelona circuit. His top speed and exit from the final corner were lacking during this sprint. “I don’t get a great start, and then I have a slight deficit on the straight. Every time, I get overtaken by slipstreaming, and then they are better positioned under braking.” There are crucial places where I lose time, but I try to do my best. Isolated at the end of the race, the Frenchman gave himself a scare: "I did several laps with no one in front of me, the tire cooled down and I almost crashed on the penultimate lap."

Nevertheless, the Honda LCR rider takes away the positives from his Saturday, aware that it will be difficult for him to repeat the operation this Sunday with twice the distance to cover: “When you start at the front, you can have better races and learn by being behind the best. I haven't reached that podium rhythm yet. Right now, I couldn't do any more than that. Tomorrow, t"Everything I can take at the beginning, like today, I have to take it."

The next step is to manage the decline and the pace. But to aim higher, they will still need to overcome a performance deficit which, for the moment, limits their ambitions.

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