Austin Circuit: The third from last before the end of a championship in which Johann Zarco was considered one of the contenders for the title, a goal he will now sit back and watch from fourth place overall. After a not particularly exciting final race and an operation for compartment syndrome on his right arm, the Frenchman is in excellent shape to face the American circuit.
“The arm recovers very well, after the operation – Johann told us – I’m surprised how quickly it recovers, even if the actual test will be on the bike. At the moment I’m not doing anything special, better wait” until the right one Day to push hard, but the feeling and pain have already subsided, it was what I was hoping for. The trip went well, the jet lag from Europe didn’t cause me any problems, I’ve rested and I feel ready for the weekend. In the afternoon I’ll check out the track, I know some areas have surfaced again, but I’ve heard contradicting opinions and I want to be sure myself. This will be an important race on a great track and we will work as always to get a good result “.
You only drove one day at the Misano test, but you tried a new chassis, is that something for this race or for next year? What can you tell us
“Actually, I’m not sure, I just tested it and gave my feedback, but I didn’t ask if I would use it in the next few races. It didn’t go that well last weekend so I wanted it most of all.” ride the bike again to regain my confidence and check the various setups, then of course we also tested the chassis. I approached everything very freely and let the technicians handle things like that. I think the test went pretty well. “
Was it a new chassis or was it already tested by other drivers?
“I don’t know, I knew I had two different bikes, but I didn’t try to figure out the technical differences.”
Do you think that the operation will now greatly improve your performance?
“I hope so. Of course I don’t take that as an excuse for my drop in performance, but the last two races have been really weird. It was complicated and I also wondered if, Knowing about the arm problem, the rest of my body didn’t want to give up 100% of its capabilities, even though I wanted to fight. It was like my body went into safe mode. It was a physical problem that is now resolved that I hope will solve all other things. “
So it’s fine with your arm. Do you feel no more pain?
“No, it’s okay. The recovery is going well and we’ll see how it goes on the first tries tomorrow. But it’s going well. I took anti-inflammatories for the first three days to reduce the swelling because after the surgery it was always a bit swollen, but I haven’t taken them since last Saturday and my arm doesn’t hurt. “
Do you already have a goal for the weekend or do you wait until tomorrow to get a first idea based on the reactions of the arm?
“I prefer not to set myself too many goals with the placements. The podium places are of course the ones that make you happiest as a driver, being in the top 5 would be a positive result and depending on the level of difficulty, a top 10 can always be interesting: After the top 10 it’s not so much fun anymore, so i don’t want to say what i want to achieve because it is natural for a driver to be among the first.
France has never been at such a high level in MotoGP. Does that depend on the drivers, on Fabio and you, or on a network that is being created?
“This is too long a topic! Either it has to be reduced to one sentence or too many things have to be developed because I am no longer very young and know a little bit more, and certainly I could analyze what could be done. As far as the industry is concerned, I can say that the association does not want to or does not want to miss this opportunity to have two top drivers in the top category. If this situation lasts for at least a couple of years, the sector could be built up more easily because there would be two leaders who would serve as locomotives. As for motorcycles in France, many countries envy us for off-roading, and we in France envy Italy and Spain for racing.