Zarco calm before MotoGP return: “It helps to have less pressure”

– After six missed MotoGP weekends, Johann Zarco is about to make his comeback. At the Aragon Grand Prix, the Honda-LCR rider wants to sit on his RC213V again for the first time since the serious accident in Barcelona.

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The return is coming a little earlier than originally planned: Zarco had initially expected a comeback in September, but after progress in rehabilitation, Aragon has now become a realistic option. The final clearance was given after the medical examination at the track on Thursday.

Zarco does not have much time to slowly get back into the racing routine. His first Grand Prix after the injury starts with a special handicap: because of the accident in Barcelona, the Frenchman must serve two long-lap penalties in the Grand Prix race on Sunday.

The FIM punished Zarco for his role in the starting accident with Francesco Bagnaia and Luca Marini. He himself views the race stewards’ decision with nuance.

Zarco: “I accepted the penalty”

The 36-year-old emphasizes that when braking for turn 1, he did not try to overtake several competitors at once with a particularly aggressive move. “My intention at that moment was not to play the superhero, to gain several places and thereby take a risk and endanger others because I was too optimistic,” the Frenchman explains in retrospect.

Rather, he had already straightened his motorcycle and braked a little earlier than the other riders. At the same time, he admits that he lost control of the Honda. “Maybe I had trouble unlocking the fork, or I reduced the brake pressure a bit. That led to the loss of control.”

Zarco derives the race stewards’ perspective from exactly this: “The penalty is: You lose control of your motorcycle, you are responsible for it, and therefore a penalty is justified.” For him, it was crucial to come to terms with the incident and accept the decision.

This also explains why he studied the video footage of the accident particularly intensively again. “I saw most of the footage of the crash when I had to decide to accept the penalty,” says Zarco.

Double long-lap penalty comes just right

That his comeback race is made more difficult by two long laps, Zarco takes calmly. Instead of seeing the penalty as an additional burden, he wants to approach the entire Aragon Grand Prix consciously with less pressure.

“The team and I have decided to treat this weekend like a normal weekend, but with less pressure, because we already know, so to speak, that we have lost the race on Sunday with the two long laps,” he says. This is not associated with pessimism. Rather, the starting position can help reduce expectations for the first race after the long break.

This fits Zarco’s general assessment of his return. He does not expect to be immediately back at the level before his injury. At the same time, after his previous tests, he sees no reason to worry excessively about his knee.

“I don’t think I will have pain,” explains the 36-year-old. However, it is possible that the long racing position will make itself felt. “If I stay bent forward too long, let’s say longer than 20 minutes during a race, I might limp a bit because the seating position is very demanding.”

Photo gallery: The career highlights of Johann Zarco

Regarding the actual performance and the riding feel of the Honda, the LCR rider does not expect major restrictions: based on what he has already tested, there should be “normally no complaints.”

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Zarco also does not expect any nasty surprises from the motorcycle itself. Although Honda has continued to work since his last outing, no fundamental changes have been made to his RC213V according to his assessment.

“Not for me,” Zarco answers when asked if he will get on a significantly changed Honda. Only minor adjustments might be made to the electronics. However, the team explained to him that these are the usual fine-tunings. “They cannot be an obstacle, only a help.”

Zarco supports holeshot ban

There is one technical innovation: following the accidents in Barcelona, the front holeshot systems have now been banned. Zarco explicitly welcomes this.

He also criticizes the riders themselves: “I think it is a good thing, and I find it a pity that we riders did not complain more strongly about this system when it was introduced.” The reason for the restraint was understandable, however: the systems brought measurable advantages at the start.

“We were too focused on making the fastest possible start,” says Zarco. The acceleration advantages were significant: “We went from 0 to 300 km/h in eight seconds.” But the safety problems that can arise from this, especially in the pack, were underestimated.

From the first starting row, the system was easier to handle because the rider had relatively free choice when braking, Zarco describes the situation and adds: “But once you are in the pack, it becomes more difficult. In hindsight, the riders should have intervened much more clearly. We in the pack, myself included, should really have complained much more about it.”

Praise for Moreira: “He is a top rider”

Looking back on his injury break, Zarco finally reveals that he deliberately refrained from watching the races on TV at the beginning. “That was not easy, because although I did not want to watch, I knew as soon as a race weekend started that it was on,” the 36-year-old recounts.

“It’s crazy how I knew that I should actually be on the track at 10 a.m. At the second or third race weekend, I managed to switch off.”

That did him “incredibly good,” says Zarco. But the time came when he again felt the urge to at least watch the races. “That helped me reconnect a bit.”

He followed the performance of his teammate Diogo Moreira particularly closely. His appearance in Hungary, where he finished a strong sixth, “really pleased” him. The race in Mugello was also “incredible.”

Although the following weeks were more difficult, it is hard to judge from a distance what factors were behind it. This does not change his fundamental assessment. “For me, there is no doubt about Diogo. He is a top rider,” Zarco emphasizes. Moreira has “this innate intelligence to understand how to ride a motorcycle,” he raves.

If success does not come immediately, that is no reason for concern for Zarco: “It is only a matter of time before he rides at his highest level.”

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