One MotoGP rider ‘behaved in the media but inside the garage there was tension!’

The truth about Johann Zarco’s feeling about his 2024 Honda have finally been laid bare.

LCR Honda team boss Lucio Cecchinello has come clean about how Zarco wasn’t always publicly honest with his thoughts.

Zarco swapped Pramac Ducati for LCR Honda in 2024, joining a struggling project where he only made his feelings known privately.

“The 2024 season was tough, at the beginning it was tough,” Cecchinello said.

“Zarco, in the media, always tried to behave positively. But inside the garage, I can tell you, there was sometimes tension!

“It’s normal. The rider was fed up because we couldn’t provide a better bike.

“We were at the bottom of the ranking. It was tough.

“We kept developing the bike, Honda did an amazing job. At the end of the season we are more happy because we are nearer the top 10.”

In 20 grands prix, the LCR team out-paced their factory counterparts on 16 occasions.

Zarco was regularly the fastest Honda all season. He finished 17th in the standings, above the three other Hondas.

Aleix Espargaro 'remarkable'

LCR will keep Zarco on board in 2025, but his 2024 teammate Takaaki Nakagami has been demoted to the role of a test rider.

Somkiat Chantra is stepping up to MotoGP for LCR alongside Zarco.

Nakagami will be joined in the test team by Aleix Espargaro.

“I am sure that Aleix is an extremely experienced rider, what he’s done in his career is remarkable,” Cecchinello said.

“Until the last race, he kept pushing. Sometimes this isn’t common.

“Many times at the end of your career, you think ‘why shall I take a risk? There is no meaning to take a risk, I don’t want to retire with a broken leg!’

“But he didn’t. He kept pushing. It’s remarkable.”