Zarco relieved after Aragon: “My body reacted pretty well”

– Johann Zarco completed his MotoGP comeback at the Aragon Grand Prix with two points and a good feeling. After more than three months of injury break, the LCR Honda rider finished ninth in the sprint on Saturday and 15th in the Grand Prix race on Sunday.

Read more Mercedes hope Kimi Antonelli: With a new mindset to the Monza home race

For the Frenchman, however, the result was less decisive than the realization that his body and his feeling for the MotoGP bike could handle the strain again.

After his serious accident at the Catalonia Grand Prix in May, Zarco missed six world championship rounds. In the crash, he suffered ligament injuries to his left knee. Originally, a return was planned only for September, but his recovery progressed faster than expected.

The medical treatment was conservative, and in private training sessions Zarco worked his way back to the strain on two wheels. In Aragon, he finally received clearance for the rest of the race weekend after the first practice.

Already on Friday, it became clear that the return could work out much better sportingly than initially expected. Zarco made it into Q2 and eventually qualified ninth. Thus, after a long break, he was directly in the third row.

Strong start to the race weekend

In the sprint, Zarco confirmed his strong starting position. He finished ninth and thus secured a world championship point directly at his first race appearance since Barcelona.

For him, that was already an important success. “I am happy with ninth place in qualifying and ninth place in the sprint,” Zarco explained on Saturday. “Getting a point in the sprint is a way of thinking that the weekend is already successful.”

Even without points, the return to the motorcycle would have been the decisive factor for him. However, as soon as he noticed that speed and feeling were back, the sporting ambition automatically returned: “When the performance is there, you naturally try to do as well as possible.”

His start particularly surprised him positively. Although Zarco started from ninth position, he deliberately did not want to take unnecessary risks in the first braking zone. After the accident in Catalonia, he was not overly fearful but had a certain respect for the situation on the first lap.

“My start was pretty good, but I was very cautious in the first braking zone,” he admits. After the first corners, this restraint gradually disappeared. Zarco found confidence and was even able to make contact with Francesco Bagnaia.

Afterwards, he tried to catch Raul Fernandez. In hindsight, however, he saw a missed opportunity there. “Maybe I can’t really call it my mistake, but I stayed behind Fernandez and tried to find an overtaking opportunity instead of doing it immediately,” the Frenchman analyzes.

The consequence: The tires got hotter, Zarco lost time, and Fermin Aldeguer came up from behind. When the Gresini rider finally passed, the gap was already too big. Nevertheless, the sprint confirmed the positive overall impression.

No holeshot: Zarco adapts

An additional peculiarity of the comeback was the start procedure. Zarco had to manage for the first time without the usual starting device, the holeshot device. This generally makes the first braking phase easier, but you have to rely even more on your own feeling, Zarco explains.

In the practice starts, he struggled with a tendency to wheelie. This does not fundamentally make the start more difficult but costs some acceleration. In the race, according to his own statement, the orientation on the other riders helped him.

“The reference to the other riders helped me control this wheelie and still start quite fast,” says Zarco. For an experienced MotoGP rider, however, the adjustment is basically not a big problem. He has already completed numerous starts without the corresponding device in his career. “As riders, we all have the ability to adapt almost immediately to something.”

Read more Sergio Perez reveals how he helped Cadillac build the team

Injured knee withstands strain

Even more important than the result was the physical reaction on Saturday. A sprint is a considerable strain even for a fully fit rider due to its high intensity, all the more so for Zarco after more than three months of break.

However, his knee coped well with the strain. He did not feel any pain, only slight cramps in the legs appeared but then disappeared again.

On Sunday, Zarco finally continued his return. He completed both of his long laps for the Barcelona crash and finished 15th after 23 laps. Because several competitors dropped out, it was enough for another point. Thus, he collected one point on each race day at his comeback.

MotoGP: Aragon Grand Prix (Alcaniz) 2026

The race itself was even physically better than feared from his point of view. “In the end, it was much better than expected when you watched the other races,” Zarco summarizes. “I wanted to do these two long laps, get the feeling back on the bike, and that’s exactly what I did.”

The 36-year-old was particularly satisfied with the cooperation with his team. After the long break, he was able to give clear feedback on the motorcycle again. That could be important for the upcoming races.

“I am very happy that after this break I had an interesting feeling on the motorcycle and that my comments were also very clear,” Zarco explains. That is not a matter of course. His goal for the rest of the season is therefore clear: He wants to maintain this direct connection to the motorcycle and the team.

“I will really try to keep this line and continue to give clear comments, hoping that we can make a good step before the end of the season.”

Zarco relieved and hungry for more

In the Grand Prix, the Frenchman was almost completely spared from cramps. Only towards the end of the race did something briefly show up. “Not until almost two laps before the end,” Zarco answers when asked about cramps.

In the end, the LCR rider was mainly relieved in Aragon. The 15th place in the Grand Prix only partially reflected what the Frenchman took away from the weekend.

After an absence of more than 100 days, he was back on the starting grid, drove competitive lap times, collected points in the sprint and the Grand Prix, and passed the physical endurance test without major problems.

Accordingly, his personal balance is positive. “I used this break to keep the dream alive in my soul,” he says. “You always have this little light that maybe something very special can happen.”

Aragon ultimately was not quite that spectacular. Zarco started strong, collected two points, and ended his comeback without physical setbacks. “It started great and ended quite normally,” he judges. But that was exactly what he had wished for: “I wanted to have this weekend, to feel this joy.”

For Zarco, that is probably more important in the end than the bare numbers. After the serious accident in Barcelona and six missed Grands Prix, he is back in the rhythm of a MotoGP rider. The next opportunity to make more out of this positive feeling also sportingly awaits at the next season race in Misano.

Read more Tribute to Michael Schumacher: This is what the Ferrari SF-26 looks like in Monza!