LCR: Johann Zarco ‘deserves’ factory team shot, ‘but not always best thing for a rider’

LCR MotoGP team boss Lucio Cecchinello says Johann Zarco “deserves” an opportunity to race for Honda’s factory squad, but this “is not always the best situation for a rider”.

Zarco signed a two-year deal with Honda to join the LCR satellite team last season, with the Frenchman adjusting well to the RC213V.

He was Honda’s top rider in the standings last year in 17th and scored its best race results, while in 2025 he has already been able to qualify on the front row and finish sixth last time out in Argentina.

With his deal with Honda expiring this year and a seat currently free at the factory HRC team for 2026 with Luca Marini’s contract running out, Johann Zarco said on Thursday at the Americas Grand Prix that a step up “can be very nice”.

Asked during the MotoGP world feed on Friday during FP1 at COTA if he thought Zarco deserved a factory team move with Honda, Cecchinello said: “I mean, he deserves for sure an opportunity.

“From our side, it’s a bit too early to discuss about the next year.

“But definitely it’s a matter we will discuss with him, with his manager, with Honda in the next couple of months.”

Cecchinello says Honda will have final say on its rider line-up for 2026, but stressed that LCR has full machinery and development parity with the factory.

Keen to retain Zarco, he also notes that a move to a factory set-up for a rider isn’t necessarily the best move for some riders.

“Well, I believe that Honda will the final word,” he added.

“Honda will decide its future. From our side, we are working very well with him.

“I don’t see any difference in technical treatment, any difference in technical support and material and parts development.

“And in my opinion it would be good if we could continue to work altogether because it’s a matter of keeping building what we have already built.

“Sometimes it can be good, but sometimes to change the team, change the crew, being under the pressure of a factory, is not always the best situation for a rider.

“But this is just, of course, my point of view.”

Zarco has only raced for a factory team once in MotoGP, when he signed with KTM for the 2019 season.

That almost derailed his career, as a lack of results on the RC16 led him to quit his two-year deal early before KTM ousted him with immediate effect after 13 rounds.