2023-08-21 14:05:04
It has been one of the news of the weekend in Austria. Just a few minutes after finishing the MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring, PRAMAC Racing made official the departure of Johann Zarco at the end of the yearthus closing a cycle of three seasons that will lead the French rider to compete in the LCR Honda Team during 2024 and 2025, an agreement that has not yet been announced by the Japanese but about which Zarco already spoke openly on Sunday afternoon. .
The one from Cannes had two offers on the table, one from Ducati with a one-year contract -and a possible change to Superbikes-or continue in MotoGP with the LCR Honda Team for two more seasonsan agreement that will allow Zarco to stay in this paddock until he is 35 years old.
As stated by the number 5 in Austria to the Motogp.com microphone, “I’ve had to think about it for a few weeks” before breaking ties with Ducati and heading to Honda. “Despite getting good results for three years with the Pramac team, it has been difficult to sign a contract again. There are a lot of competitive Ducati, a lot of young riders, so it seemed like it was difficult to get another chance, it wasn’t even sure if I was going to continue with Pramac or with another Ducati team.”commented on it.
Questioned about the offer he has received from Honda, Zarco replied that “The negotiation with Honda and Cecchinello and the offer were quite interesting”, a proposal allowing the French “Having a project for the future for two more years, and at 33, that’s very good as an athlete.”
The Frenchman will disembark at a factory, Honda, which is going through its worst historical streak of results since it has competed in MotoGP. Zarco is aware that, unlike the Ducati he is riding right now, will have to put on work overalls and collaborate as much as possible with Honda to improve a bike that has been missing from the grid for almost three years.
“I give a lot and I can also give good information”, account. “I have grown a lot since 2019, when I had the difficult experience with the KTM. But Honda is another story, even if they are suffering now, they do not have the winning bike at the moment, they are still Honda and have the power to come back if they find the right path for development. So I will be very proud if I can be a part of this and very happy if I can perform well.”
Zarco believes that his previous background and extensive experience with almost every bike on the grid can be useful for Honda at this time: “With the different experiences of Yamaha, KTM, the Honda during three races (ndr. covered Takaaki Nakagami’s loss due to injury at the end of 2019), I even tried the Suzuki seven years ago. And now I’ve been riding the Ducati for four years. So I try to adapt to many situations“.
Focused on the competitiveness of the RC213V, Zarco recalls that Alex Rins “won the race in Austin” with the bike that he will inherit in 2024, something that he qualifies as “incredible”. However, it also warns that Rins “He’s been suffering and he’s also been injured, so it’s been a tough time for him. I don’t know how things have gone within (HRC), but it is a challenge that I accept and I think that with the experience I have, I am prepared to control the situation as best as possible.”
In 2019, after having two good seasons with the Yamaha Tech 3, Zarco went to KTM with the aim of consolidating the Austrian project in MotoGP; unfortunately, the Frenchman found himself with a difficult bike that he never adapted to, and that led him to force his divorce from the Austrians before even completing his first year dressed in orange, formalizing their separation after the summer break.
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Now, however, Johann affirms that this situation will not be repeated again with Honda no matter how bad things may go for him in the next two years: “When I jumped from the Yamaha to the KTM, I wanted to win races at all costs, so I felt really bad when I was way behind in qualifying. That’s why I said to KTM: ‘better to stop than pay me for nothing’. Now it is another mentality. And as I say, I take it as a project, which is quite good, because I have saved these two years and MotoGP is the best place to be, and it is also the place where I want to be because I am very competitive. I want to live this challenge and I will live it better than in KTM because I am more mature. So I know that in case of problems, I will manage it much better than in the past.” Johann Zarco ends.
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