At the moment Johann Zarco is not thinking about next year – The Frenchman does not have a manager – But Pramac confirms that they want to extend Zarco’s contract
Johann Zarco is riding his third MotoGP season for Ducati and his second with the Pramac team. The two-time Moto2 World Champion’s contract also expires at the end of the year. At 31, Zarco is the oldest of the eight Ducati riders. What does his future look like?
“I’m not thinking about the future yet,” says the Frenchman. “I want to show performance. If I do that, then there will be opportunities to stay with Ducati. Or I will have to think about other teams.”
For Zarco to move to the Ducati factory team and take Jack Miller’s place is not on his mind. Young stars Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin would be candidates for that spot, should Ducati want to make a change in the factory team.
Zarco will have to wait and see if he can stay with Pramac. “I don’t have a manager to put pressure on the teams all weekend. So I hope that performance will pay off in the talks.”
“Ducati knows my position very well. They know exactly what I am doing. I am highly motivated, but I don’t have someone to put pressure on them. My main goal is to stay with Ducati because I think something good is being built here. “
“As long as I can fight for podiums with Pramac then it would be good to continue here. I think if everything is finalised by the summer break, then I will do it before the summer as well,” he says, thinking about the contract extension.
And although Zarco has not yet won a MotoGP race, he has a good chance of staying with Pramac. The team is very happy with him. But Pramac decides together with Ducati, because Ducati ultimately pays the riders’ salaries.
“We are very happy with Johann,” said Pramac team boss Paolo Campinoti to ‘Canal+’. “We are convinced that he can stay with us. We will also do everything to make sure he stays with us. “
“We always make decisions with Ducati. You can say that we have an influence. And we want Johann to stay with us. It also depends if he wants to stay, but we have a very good relationship. We are very happy and I hope he stays. “