As the latest winner on the route, Johann Zarco was invited to the second press conference as a prelude to the Grand Prix MotoGP
from Australia, with Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller.
Obviously, good memories were on the agenda, but not only that…
As usualwe report here his words during his debriefing, without the slightest formatting, and this evening directly transcribed from French.
Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to Phillip Island for the Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix. This is the 17th round of the MotoGP World Championship, the second of our two previous press conferences. We are delighted to welcome Pedro Acosta, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 driver, Pedro 6th in the world championship. Last time in Japan, he was the 3rd youngest driver to start from pole position in the premier class, and he recently reached the podium in Aragon and Mandalika. To the right of Pedro, we welcome in front of his audience the Red Bull KTM factory rider Jack Miller, 15th in the World Championship, winner in Moto3 here. 10 years ago, Jack it was in 2014, and there are two years ago on this special weekend, when turn 4 was named in honor of Jack here at his home circuit. To complete today’s press conference, we welcome Johann Zarco, the rider of the Castrol Honda LCR team, 17th in the World Championship, winner of the Phillip Island race last year, his first victory in MotoGP, and sure, it was a pleasure to see the back flip again right here 12 months ago.
I now come to Johann Zarco, the LCR Honda rider. Johann, of course, last year’s win was very popular here 12 months ago, those are great memories, we saw the videos all this week of the last lap, the celebrations, the back flip with the fans Australians: Is it special for you to be back here at Phillip Island, a year after the incredible victory?
Johann Zarco : “It’s a good feeling, clearly, to arrive on the island, even without thinking about last year’s victory, but Phillip Island has a special taste. And when I arrived yesterday it was fantastic weather, so you look around and you’re happy. Then I rode my bike in the morning on the track, and yes, I had a good feeling in the last two corners, thinking about that moment when I was leading the race and I won this first victory. But I’m impressed with the track because the corners are really special here, and I was able to win on a track where I’m impressed, which makes it taste, I don’t know, but maybe a little bit better. I hope we have the chance to get closer to others. »
I was going to say, of course Johann, that this year it’s a different challenge for you on the Honda. Twice, however, in the last five Grands Prix you have been in Q2, a great weekend at Mandalika with the top 10 in the Sprint and the Grand Prix. So are you confident in your ability to challenge for the top 10 again this weekend in Australia?
“It’s clear that the last two GPs have given me and the team a good boost. Even in Japan, Friday didn’t start very well, but the two races we did were very interesting. And here it seems that this is not a track where there is the problem of accelerations with wheelies, so I hope that we can lose less time on the others, and if this theory works, that means that the step forward that we made in Misano will be confirmed here, and it will be positive for Honda, knowing that they understand things and that we can continue to move forward. »
It’s clear that Honda has been making improvements to the bike for some time, and it has been confirmed in Japan that Romano Albesiano will be the technical director next year. Do you have the impression that there is more optimism at Honda? Are you more confident that they are working in the right direction to get the bike competitive again?
“Yes, I am confident. At the beginning of the year, I was saying that I thought it was possible to get to the top 10 and fight in the top 10. Then, during the season, I clearly said “OK, we have to forget about this kind of goal”, and now I have the chance to aim for the top 10 again, so it’s a good motivation. And they make some changes, so anyway the Japanese have a way of working that is very impressive. So it’s clear that the work is not something that we have to doubt, but we have to understand in which direction to go, and it seems that with the last steps that we have taken, we have had like a breath: “OK , that’s my job.”
If you have to bet for the title, who of Jorge and Pecco, and why?
“I would also say Jorge. I would like Jorge, because having the chance to win the first title in MotoGP, for Pramac, which is a team that I like and before moving to another brand, that would be good. So it would be cool if Jorge got it. »
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