Zarco: I could not have the pace this weekend, will come back stronger

Johann Zarco recovered third place from Francesco Bagnaia in the MotoGP world championship at Silverstone, even with his worst completed race finish of the season. 

The Pramac Ducati rider finished 11th which is his only outside top ten finish of the season - aside from race retirements in Portimao and Austria (2). 

But while Zarco has been one of the fastest and most consistent riders of 2021, it was a result that could be foreshadowed based on Friday and Saturday’s free practice performance. 

The Frenchman was slightly off the pace compared to his main rivals, and although his best session came in Q2 with ninth place, tyre issues in the race meant Zarco lost his top ten position. 

Even though it was a disappointing weekend for Zarco, especially after not finishing in Austria, the 31 year-old is aiming to ‘come back stronger’ for the final few rounds.

Speaking after the race, Zarco said: "Even starting with the medium I never gave up and I believed that I could do a strong race. 

"I really tried to fight from the beginning until the end, but I could not have the good speed on the first five or seven laps to stay with the good group, so I lost positions and it was difficult. 

"Then, when the others began to struggle a bit more with the rear tyre, my average was quite interesting and I could enjoy a little bit and resist with them, but clearly the target was to finish the race and do as well as possible because I could not have a good pace this weekend. 

"From Friday I have been struggling and in the race there was this image of what I could feel on the Friday. 

"So, disappointed on one side, but I also take some positives because the bad moments always give good lessons to come back stronger."