Johann Zarco’s good MotoGP Sprint start: “We don't put third gear here…”
“It's the acceleration from 150 to 250 where sometimes we lose a few tenths”
Johann Zarco held off Joan Mir for twelfth place and another top Honda finish in the Thailand MotoGP Sprint.
For ‘the first time this year’, the LCR rider got off to a good start, only to be shuffled to 16th later in the lap.
“I struggled too much on the first lap but not at the start,” Zarco said. “At the start, I didn't lose any positions, which is the first time this year.
“But I got a bit unlucky on the first lap because I was behind di Giannantonio who had to brake twice. The first was maybe to avoid Bezzecchi, the second to avoid Fabio Quartararo.
“I was really close behind Fabio and I had to brake also. So I could not use well the good start.”
Quizzed on what made the difference for his race start compared to previous events, Zarco explained:
“I’m getting a good feeling with the clutch, but still we are not much faster and maybe the fact that I didn't lose positions is that we don't put third gear [before braking for Turn 1] here.
“We just put second gear. And you don't have time to have too much wheelie.
“So maybe we reach 200km/h but not much more. And it's the acceleration from 150 to 250km/h where sometimes we lose a few tenths.
“Here you quickly get to the brake so that's why I think I could keep my position. But my reaction was also very good, so I was happy.”
Reflecting on the rest of the race, the Frenchman felt they had not made progress from their Friday set-up.
“For the pace, we were missing something,” he said. “I could not get the good feeling from Friday today.
“We have tried things, but it seems we did a little step back. So that's the situation at the moment.
“When we do well, it's hard to wish for better. As they say, sometimes ‘better is the enemy of good’!
“But that’s the philosophy of racing; you always want better. And we cannot wait for things to happen.
“We have to work to make things better, but because the [margin for] my good feeling on the bike is very thin at the moment, I lost it.
“But the positive is that I got it yesterday.”
Zarco is 17th in the world championship standings, 12 points clear of team-mate and next-best Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami.
Nakagami finished 18th in the Sprint.
