“I’m glad I held on but it really dried me out!”

Johann Zarco put mental and physical fatigue aside after a particularly successful Saturday at the Indonesian Grand Prix. “Very happy”the Frenchman confirmed the great promises made the day before, first by obtaining his ticket for Q2, then by qualifying seventh, then by finishing eighth in the sprint race, with two points up for grabs.

“The sprint points are so nice!”he whispers without hesitation at the Canal+ microphone, while emphasizing the intensity of the race he delivered on the Mandalika circuit: “With this pace maintained in the race, I was happy that it ended, I was at the maximum of the maximum. It was going fast because [Franco] Morbidelli tried to catch up [Maverick] Vinales. I’m glad I held on but it really dried me out!”

“I was able to overtake Viñales, he moved away a little, he passed again but it was the race. And at the end, I tried to overtake him again because he was losing a little rhythm but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it and at the same time I had to hold on. [Fabio] Di Giannantonio because I didn’t want to lose a place.”

This fight in this compact group, although tiring, allowed Johann Zarco to confirm many points that he had already clarified since the Honda received the developments made at Misano. By clocking some of the fastest times, he saw what his machine was now capable of, although it lacked some compared to the benchmarks on the field.

“I have seen a lot of things with the Ducati, the Aprilia, and this allows me to confirm a little of what I see, and to say it even more clearly”he rejoices. “It went well, I’m curious to see tomorrow. Double [de tours]it’s going to be complicated but the pace will be more around 1’31, that will give a little margin.”

A not optimal start

The French driver believes he benefited from conditions at Mandalika that he expected, namely a greater disparity in comfort between the drivers on a track that certainly offers grip, but not as much as at Misano during the last two Grands Prix. Among the black points, his average start which initially caused him to lose four places needs to be reviewed, but could depend on Honda’s reluctance in this matter.

“In terms of feeling I think I got off to a really good start compared to the other races”estimates Johann Zarco. “But once you put second gear, you let go of the clutch, even if you’re at full throttle, if you put more power you pitch up, and that’s when the others pass. That means that our bike isn’t crashing enough, but for the moment Honda doesn’t want to crash it any more, or they’re really going little by little, and we’re missing almost 2 or 3 cm, and it’s huge because we don’t have that dragster effect.”

The main question that the LCR driver now wishes to answer is obviously whether he can reproduce such a performance over the duration of a Grand Prix. Before Sunday’s meeting, caution and optimism mix.

“If I find a place in the 10 again, it will be great”concludes Johann Zarco. “When I see that the others are less able to use the grip at the rear, at that moment I find ease. If I have it from the third of the race, I can keep some margin and then play a top 10.”