Zarco: ‘Marc fast at Portimao last year, maybe we can have less disadvantage’

Johann Zarco hopes that Marc Marquez’s 2023 Portimao speed is a positive sign for Honda’s chances during MotoGP's return to Portugal this weekend.

The Spaniard utilised a tow to qualify on pole position for last year’s season-opener, then rode to a close third place in the Sprint. Marquez was again a front runner in the grand prix, but lost control under braking and collided with Miguel Oliveira.

That left Alex Rins, in tenth, as the best Honda, but Zarco at least hopes the spectacular Portuguese circuit will be a more natural fit for the Honda than Qatar, where he was the top RC213V in 12th.

“A few tenths every lap are missing, but this will come with time and improving the bike,” Zarco said. “But the way I ride the bike, I enjoy, so that's already a good thing.

“All the information is getting more and more clear. So let's see in Portugal with a different layout. I was quite impressed by how fast Marc was there last year. It means that maybe we can have less disadvantage than on a very fast track like in Qatar.

“So if we get a bit of advantage in Portugal [compared to Qatar] this will be good information to understand our strong and weak points.

“The Qatar weekend created a real base for us, because even if you have time during the test to do a long run, you never get the same information as in a race.

“We need to use these [opening] races as a development, because we know at the moment that [the bike] is not ready for the podium, but clearly it’s much better than the project of the last two years.

“We have some concessions, so more tests and more parts to try. And this will be useful, clearly. There is a balance on the bike, there is no big secret. But everyone has to find this balance, and Honda is on the way.”

Team-mate Takaaki Nakagami, 19th and last of the RCVs in Qatar, at least found more consistency in the grand prix compared to the Sprint but is still searching for rear grip, especially on new rubber.

“Joan [Mir] and Zarco had that two tenths every lap where they are a bit faster than my pace. So at the end they got a couple of points and I was out of points,” said the Japanese.

“Definitely we are losing in the drive and the traction area, we were not going forward and the bike was spinning a lot. So it was tough. This kind of layout is always very tricky and again we lack rear grip. This is the main issue for us.

“Definitely I'm disappointed, but it’s only the first race. Now I’m looking forward to Portimao, a normal time schedule and going back to a European race track. Let's see where we are, the position and performance.

“I heard that in Portimao we will get some new or [different] items on the bike, so hopefully the bike balance and the performance will be improved. And then let's see the result.”