There’s nothing like starting a weekend with a track record, and that’s exactly how Johann Zarco started his. In dry conditions, a time of 1’22’827 appeared on its dashboard. Then, on a wet afternoon, he finished second, so the Frenchman on the Pramac team will certainly sleep well tonight.
“It was definitely a good first day,” he said. “I knew the conditions were good this morning and asked the team to fit a new tire at the end of the session. I’ve been hot since last weekend. I knew the changes to the bike would make it better and I’m glad that strategy worked. It’s nice to have set a record and be more confident, but I’m still not at the hundred percent I wanted. I need more laps to repeat Martin’s race last Sunday, but I’m going in the right direction. “
Zarco spoke of two fundamental changes: one mental and one technical.
“They usually go hand in hand,” he explained. “My goal was to go beyond the limits I had in mind, then we made the right changes to the bike and something good came out of it.”
Johann’s teammate helped with the missing step.
“I wasn’t inspired by Jorge in the setup or the way of working. I have mine, and I’m not changing it in his mental style“, Emphasized the French. “He is young. Sometimes he takes more risks and I realized that if you want to win, you can’t always have everything under control.”
This seems to have worked.
“On my fastest lap, I reached a corner and didn’t know if I would make it … I made the record,” he concluded with a laugh.