The Grand Prize MotoGP Solidarity of Barcelona concludes the 2024 season after five GPs in the Asian part of our land, which destabilizes a little, and very briefly, a Johann Zarco nevertheless delighted to race in Catalonia…
As usualwe report here his words during his debriefing, without the slightest formatting, and this evening directly transcribed from French.
Johann Zarco : “We'll have done three Grands Prix at home this year (laughs), Le Mans and two Barcelona, and it's actually pretty cool to come here for us, to make this comparison with the month of June. We still feel that we have evolved in the ranking, and so it will be interesting to see this evolution compared to June, and if we can compete for the top 10 like I was able to do in the Asian races. These are races that have done me a lot of good, good for the team, good for Honda, good for Lucio and me first and foremost. Because being in what I announced at the start of the year feels good, it gives credibility and it has done me a lot of good. And a little strange effect, coming home after 2 months of touring overseas, is that it seems like the season is over, when you still have to refocus to perform here. So, now, I see that I need a little time to get back into it. As if doing all the races together gets me into a rhythm, then I get on the bike and it seems normal to take crazy angles and go at 350 miles an hour. And there, the fact that it's a little cooler, all that, I still have trouble telling myself that that's it, tomorrow it's starting again, even though it's the end, but it's starting again. There is a little contradiction in my head, but I'm happy: it's always an adrenaline boost to ride MotoGP, and in fact just having stopped for a week, I feel that I already have need again.”
Do you have more expectations compared to this weekend or compared to Tuesday's test?
“More from this weekend! Perform, finally perform, do what we would like to play the 10, qualify directly in Q2, that would be the best, these are the small objectives of the weekend. Tuesday, it's just mind work, doing the laps, and trying the new things, but no pressure for Tuesday, and it will be a much easier Tuesday than last year's Tuesday in Valencia, where I changed bikes, where Here we will say that I took my real step back, already on Tuesday a year ago. There, it won't be the same Tuesday, so
the test day on Tuesday, if the weather is good, will be pleasant.”
Nakagami said that from Monday, he would join the engineers to try to advise Somkiat Chantra for Tuesday. Do you have anything planned to work more like this?
“No, here I am doing my job as a driver, I am giving my feelings to the engineers. And yes, Taka will have this role of still training Chantra as best as possible and accompanying him during the tests to help him understand all the specificities of a MotoGP, but suddenly it is not my role, and Taka is very well positioned. »
In relation to the Valencia floods, you have been asked for items for auction. Were you able to do anything?
“Yes, I was able to donate a helmet. It's not easy to say what we can give or not, because after all the tour, even us, drivers, sometimes we have to count our gear a little to finish the season, because there is could have had falls, et cetera. But yes, there I can offer a helmet, and everyone offers a few things to help as much as possible. It gave me a bit of a thrill to see everything that happened, and it's good to have the last Grand Prix here in Catalunya, because Dorna made sure that this Grand Prix could help the municipality of Valencia. »
All season, we said to ourselves that it was not possible for Ducati to let Martin leave with number one at Aprilia. We are before the final and they are not going to pull any cheap shots. For you, as a former Ducati rider, does this correspond to the philosophy you saw?
“It fully corresponds to the Dall'Igna spirit, more than the Ducati spirit, and the Dall'Igna spirit has always served Pramac well, already last year and this year to the fullest, and I think it would be beautiful for Pramac to have the drivers' title. We had the teams title last year, now they can have the drivers title, and for Jorge before changing brands, that would really be the best. I think, it’s Dall’Igna’s class.”
The season is ending, you are the first Honda driver, you won the 8 hours of Suzuka, how are you perceived by Honda, if you had some privileged contacts during the Japanese Grand Prix?
“I don't think I had any privileged contacts there, but the 8 hours of Suzuka we made a nice step in the confidence of the Japanese, because I joined a 100% Japanese team, and suddenly I found myself going to say a little more suited to them, and I think they really appreciated that. Because casually, in fact, in a MotoGP team, all my comments are made to Europeans who then discuss with the Japanese. There, it was me live with the Japanese, and the European also needs to adapt to the Japanese. And I think they appreciated that, that I did it well. And then, the overseas tour, to have made a difference compared to the other Honda riders and to have started to follow the other bikes, to fight with the other bikes, there too the confidence begins to grow with Honda . It may take time, what Lucio told me, but once it is established, this trust is very solid, and as a result I am happy with the vision of all of the decisions taken. and to see that things are moving forward.”
MotoGP Zarco Barcelone
MotoGP Zarco Barcelone
MotoGP Zarco Barcelone
