Johann Zarco: “I could not ride the bike any more”
Zarco forced to retire from Qatar MotoGP Sprint after severe chatter ruins his soft tyre gamble.
Johann Zarco’s Qatar MotoGP Sprint hopes ended in disappointment after severe chatter forced the LCR Honda rider to retire.
The Frenchman, who qualified as the top Honda in seventh, was among ten riders to gamble on the soft rear tyre in Saturday night’s 11-lap Sprint.
But the strategy quickly backfired for all of them, with grip dropping off far earlier than expected.
“We made a big mistake with the rear tyre choice,” Zarco admitted.
“We expected to manage just the wear drop-off, but I experienced a lot of chattering and couldn’t play with the throttle properly.
“I could not ride the bike any more. I'd lost too many positions and almost crashed a few times. I preferred to go back to the box instead of crash and get injured.
“We expected to maybe struggle but only for the last three laps. Instead, we only had two good laps.
“I'm quite disappointed because qualifying was good, I enjoy this track and starting seventh was a chance to get points already in the sprint. But I missed it."
Despite his frustration, Zarco is hopeful that switching to the medium rear on Sunday can turn things around - providing the vibration stays away.
“I hope with the medium rear to get better control but the vibration is still our limit.
“So I just cross my fingers to fix this for [Sunday] and, in that case, I believe I can be in the top six.”
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
