First look: Zarco at LCR Honda

This is the first look at Johann Zarco in LCR Honda colours ahead of this weekend's Australian MotoGP.

The Frenchman, who split from the factory KTM team after Misano, is taking over from Takaaki Nakagami at Phillip Island, Sepang and Valencia while the Japanese recovers from shoulder surgery.

However, the three-race stint is also widely seen as a chance for Zarco to show his potential on an RCV, should a future opportunity emerge at Honda.

“I’m very happy. It’s difficult to fix a target, but I want to clear up all the feelings I got this year, because I had a great first two years in MotoGP, but this year has been really complicated," Zarco   said.

"It looked like the MotoGP story was finished, but then Lucio (Cecchinello) called me to catch the opportunity to ride in these three races and yes, I’m catching it because it’s maybe my last three races.

"I took a big risk this summer quitting my contract for 2020, but I realized that racing is what I want to do. So now I have a short future, but I can live it with a lot of intensity.”

Zarco took six podiums during two seasons with Tech3 Yamaha before requesting an early termination of his KTM contract after failing to adapt to the RC16 this season, taking a best finish of tenth.

Still hoping to see out this season, KTM instead decided to replace Zarco with test rider Mika Kallio from Aragon. The #5 was then hotly linked with a Yamaha test-riding role for 2020, before opting for the LCR race chance.

Zarco will have Nakagami's 2018-spec bike. LCR regular Cal Crutchlow plus factory Honda riders Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo use the more powerful, but also more physical, 2019 machine.

Double Moto2 champion Zarco suffered a frightening exit from last year's Phillip Island race when he clipped the back of Marquez's bike on the home straight, but was in the thick of the lead group during the 2017 grand prix, when he also qualified on the front row.

Nakagami has a best race result of fifth this season.

KTM has announced that Brad Binder will now take over Zarco's place next season, with fellow rookie Iker Lecuona joining Tech3... which leaves a seat free at the Ajo in Moto2, should Zarco want to return to his former team in the intermediate class.