Zarco and Syahrin prepared for the demanding Italian challenge
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo landed impatiently this weekend in Italy for the sixth round of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship.
After his fabulous pole position in front of his home crowd, an unfortunate end at the French Grand Prix and a very fruitful test on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Johann Zarco is ready to fight his way back on board his Yamaha YZR-M1, despite the fact that he is 27 is aware that the 1.141 kilometer straight at the Autodromo del Mugello will not play into his hands. But Zarco wants to convince with his incredible determination and his extraordinary kind of hard work.
MotoGP rookie Hafizh Syahrin, who experimented with his machine at the one-day Michelin test in Barcelona to get an even better feeling, meanwhile wants to get the most out of his regained fitness and his M1. With this, the Malaysian wants to regain his first rookie position and will start his intensive program in the first session of the weekend on Friday at 9.55 a.m. local time.
Johann Zarco
Championship: 3rd – Points: 58
“Mugello is a fast and very nice track. I had problems there last year, but this season I have a much better command of the bike and overall, after that bad Sunday at Le Mans, I want to get back to good results and a lot of points in the championship, which is very important. I think I learned a lot at Le Mans, even with the crash, so I arrive in Italy with a lot of motivation and joy because the test in Barcelona was pretty good too and I think we have great opportunities to manage the bike to achieve that you fight for the podium with the top guys. “
Hafizh Syahrin
Championship: 17th – Points: 13th
“As always, I’m really looking forward to the next round. Of course, my rookie competitors like Morbidelli are highly motivated to do well in Italy, but I also have more confidence. I will do my best for the team and myself. The track in Mugello is very big, since this is my first time arriving there on a GP bike, I will try to understand this layout as soon as possible. We know the track is very fast which requires a very good top speed so we will try to have a good setup to be ready in FP1 and try to get closer to the top with each session. My physical condition is very good and I train really hard to challenge all of the premier class riders. We’ll see what happens when we arrive. “
Hervé PONCHARAL
Team manager
“The French GP is over and I think it’s good to have this event behind us. Johann spent the perfect weekend until Saturday evening and I would like to thank him again for his performance. Unfortunately, the pressure on Sunday was too great and he couldn’t complete what we had all hoped for. It was a tough weekend, so it was good to have a very constructive test session with a new layout and new tarmac in Barcelona and then to have a few days off. I spent four days off road in Corsica and it was amazing. If the Grand Prix guys don’t know this place, they have to go see it. To get back to the serious stuff, Mugello is a difficult track for us and was quite difficult last year as we couldn’t have the weekend we wanted. We didn’t test there and know that there are a lot of Ducati bikes at the start that will definitely be fast there. Anyway, we will give our maximum as always. It’s a beautiful track, the Italian fans are always incredibly hot and if the weather is nice it will be a great GP weekend. As for Monster Yamaha Tech3, Johann can work with less pressure and with a will to return to the championship. For Hafizh, the test in Spain was very important as it takes more laps than anyone else. He finished the French lap as the best rookie, an achievement that we are very happy about. I hope that both Johann and Hafizh can achieve their goal this weekend. Tuscany is waiting for us and we won’t keep it waiting too long. “