First bad luck in FT4, then first row on the grid and finally a podium: For Johann Zarco, MotoGP in Indonesia ended on a conciliatory note, also thanks to the help of his advisor
After Enea Bastianini’s opening win in Qatar, the MotoGP weekend in Mandalika once again saw a Ducati rider on the podium in the form of Johann Zarco. However, he was the first to do so on the current factory bike, the GP22.
The Frenchman from the Pramac team finished third behind race winner Miguel Oliveira (KTM) and world champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). The Ducati factory duo finished fourth (Jack Miller) and 15th (Francesco Bagnaia) in the rain. Jorge Martin crashed.
“I’m happy about the podium, but I expected a bit more,” admitted Zarco. He had lost places at the start from row one and was initially only fifth, but fought his way back onto the podium as the race progressed on a wet track, passing fellow brand mate Miller and Alex Rins (Suzuki). “
“At the beginning of the race the water level was high and it took me too long to find my confidence. I was very impressed with Miguel and Jack because they can set a very high pace straight away. I lost a little time behind Rins, unfortunately, but more behind Jack,” said Zarco, describing his race.
“At that moment I thought I could go really fast and maybe catch Miguel or save second place before Fabio overtook me. But I lost a bit too much drive and and suffered from spinning on corner exit.”
While he was strong on the brakes, “the balance was not good enough to overtake the others quickly,” Zarco records. “I tried to do my best, but when Fabio overtook me I saw the podium slipping out of my hands. “
From crashing in row one to the podium
In the intra-brand duel with Miller, the Pramac rider did manage to come out on top to snatch third place: “I think he was struggling on the right side with the grip on the rear. I was able to overtake him and I was third. “
In the end Zarco tried to catch up with his compatriot Quartararo. “But he also felt very good. Two laps were not enough.” However, he was conciliatory with the result: “First to crash in FT4, then to be on the front row and finally – with a few mistakes – to be on the podium is very positive. “
However, the crash in question was not his fault: Zarco’s undoing was an oil slick left on the track by Suzuki rider Rins. He did not let this upset him. His advisor Jean-Michel Bayle is also helping him.
Different approach with Bayle
“The goal with him is to change the approach to the weekend a little bit by getting better and better in practice and then being stronger in the race. If you work well in all your rounds, one or two problems can’t destroy your weekend. That’s the idea behind it,” Zarco explained.
When asked about the rain performance of his Ducati, he sees one weak point above all: “In the rain we still lack something in acceleration. That’s when the Ducati should be at its strongest. If we can get to grips with that and keep our strength at the entrance to the corners, we’ll have a winning bike. “
