Johann Zarco , Sprint Race, Argentina MotoGP, 1 April 2023
Johann Zarco admitted that he still doesn’t feel he is getting 100% out of his Ducati, despite his late charge to second in the Argentina Grand Prix.
The Pramac Ducati pilot struggled to maintain his place within the top five in the early stages of the 25-lap encounter, Zarco slipping as far down as eighth before he eventually began to make forward progress as the race approached half-distance.
He then began to light up the timing screens as his rivals started to suffer with greater tyre degradation, Zarco scything through to fourth before then eating up the five second gap to podium men Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez, with Zarco getting the better of the latter on the final tour to secure an 11th premier class runner-up.
Zarco therefore had to make do with being the bridesmaid rather than the bride once more as his wait for a first MotoGP race win continues, something he feels can be explained by him still not finding a good enough feeling with his Desmosedici, the two-time Moto2 world champion conceding that “if I haven’t found it in three years I won’t find it immediately.”
“The feeling in the wet was like in the dry, I was quite competitive and it’s surprising I lack a good feeling at the beginning because when the tyre gets used I can gain an advantage, so this is something to work on and if I can improve this point I can do many good races,” explained Zarco to BT Sport following the Argentina GP.
“When there is a problem there is a solution, it’s mainly an issue of feeling and its easier said than done, but we are working and we have to take time to understand some different approaches with my riding style.
“After a few years within Ducati I still have not fully found it (fully correct riding style with bike), so if I haven’t found it in three years I won’t find it immediately, though as long as I can keep doing this it is good for the championship.”
With his lack of feeling on new tyres costing him in the early part of the contest, Zarco added that his ability to maximise grip on used tyres in the wet conditions proved to be the key to his late rostrum attack.
“That was so good, the whole race was wet and we had a race that couldn’t get dry, but it was good to have the consistency (in conditions) because the track has a lot of grip in the wet, so the tyres are getting used a lot,” continued Zarco.
“With this I could get an advantage because I was missing (pace) in the first third of the race because even though I got a good start and did well in the first few corners, I couldn’t get into the 1:45s like the others.
“I lost time with the top guys but then after a third of the race I could see that I could run at a better pace than the others, though I couldn’t see (Marco) Bezzecchi because he did an amazing race.
“I realised a podium was possible and luckily we didn’t have one lap less as I couldn’t have caught Alex (Marquez), so this was perfect timing.”
Keyword: Zarco: ‘I still have not found’ correct Ducati riding style