till Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Johann Zarco’s first season as a Honda MotoGP rider was at all times going to be a climbdown from his time as a manufacturing unit Ducati-contracted rider, however he in all probability would not have anticipated the sheer scope of mentioned climbdown.
A primary-time MotoGP race winner final 12 months, Zarco traded what has since confirmed an excellent higher Ducati – the GP24 that will have been his as soon as Marco Bezzecchi rejected it in favour of staying at VR46 with a GP23 – for a traditionally dangerous Honda. He had 122 factors at this stage final 12 months however sits on a hideous 12 proper now.
Now, the Honda transfer was by no means going to be about immediate gratification in any sense apart from perhaps monetary. Zarco was at all times coming to Honda to assist rebuild it, and is extremely unlikely to really feel any kind of purchaser’s regret, particularly after final 12 months’s Phillip Island triumph meant he lastly bagged a race win whereas he had a aggressive bike.
However with Zarco having simply turned 34 there will probably be an inflated worth to each alternative to win whereas he is nonetheless in his prime and – because the comparability inside the Honda camp is displaying – nonetheless holding his personal in opposition to robust MotoGP opposition.
He won’t discover these alternatives in MotoGP this 12 months. However he is heading into one this weekend.
A near-miss
Zarco ought to have already run within the legendary endurance basic Suzuka 8 Hours, and perhaps ought to’ve even already received it.
In 2016, whereas he was in the course of powering to a second straight Moto2 crown, the Frenchman was within the body for a Suzuki MotoGP trip, testing its bike as a part of it – and in addition signing up for its 8 Hours effort.
By the point the precise race rolled round, although, Suzuki had picked Alex Rins over Zarco for 2017 and the Suzuka plans went out the window.
The following two years he may’ve tackled it with Yamaha as a substitute, given his standing as a Tech3 rider, however each he and team-mate Jonas Folger favoured specializing in their nascent MotoGP careers.
Yamaha, which had received Suzuka with Tech3 ‘loanees’ the earlier two years, received once more in 2017 and 2018 however utilizing its World Superbike riders as a substitute of Zarco.
His profession then took him to KTM and Ducati, two marques with out a lot of a view in direction of Suzuka (though that’s altering for Ducati as of this 12 months).
Nevertheless it’s all aligned for Zarco now that he is at Honda, with not solely a spot on the group to beat on the occasion but additionally a pleasant MotoGP-free window to suit a two-day take a look at into because of the postponement of the Kazakhstan race (which has now been changed by a second race at Misano) from its preliminary June date.
Not a given
Honda’s important works entry has received each editions of the Suzuka 8 Hours because the occasion’s return from a COVID-19 hiatus, with Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge serving because the European ‘visitors’ in its profitable line-ups.
Takumi Takahashi – the exact same rider who didn’t make 107% as Rins’s harm alternative in final 12 months’s MotoGP spherical at Misano – was a part of each these wins, in addition to three extra, making him the joint-most profitable rider within the race’s historical past.
He’s Honda’s reference rider right here, “the quickest rider in Suzuka” as per Zarco.
The third rider within the line-up, Teppei Nagoe, is one other newcomer to the group. Zarco’s greatest time was half a second down on Takahashi’s however two tenths up on Nagoe’s on the primary day of the June take a look at, although Nagoe then set the crew’s quickest time of the take a look at – albeit with Takahashi largely sitting out the day to make sure Zarco obtained most mileage attributable to restricted tyre availability.
Honda did not broach the 2m05s laptime vary ultimately – solely Ducati Workforce Kagayama and YART Yamaha did – however single-lap tempo is, after all, secondary to longer working.
Nonetheless, Zarco’s feedback indicated he’s conscious of the risk the Yamaha crew of Niccolo Canepa, Karel Hanika and Marvin Fritz pose particularly.
“It will be good to win,” mentioned Zarco. “Honda needs to win, as a result of they received the final two years. They need the following one.
“It appears previously years they’d a bit extra benefit than what they’ve this 12 months. Throughout the take a look at I have been impressed by the tempo of the Yamaha guys. So it will be good to see all three riders of each groups, how they are often probably the most fixed.
“The goal is victory, and I hope I will probably be quick sufficient, perhaps even for the qualifying. The tempo is the primary factor, and actually using for an hour, it is form of attention-grabbing, I by no means did it earlier than. Once I tried it throughout the take a look at, it was good to trip one hour with a race bike.”
A stern problem could effectively make it all of the extra candy if Zarco does pull it off, although – whereas additionally giving him good preparation for different endurance races he is eager on sooner or later, together with the Bol d’Or or the motorbike Le Mans variant, each spanning 24 hours.
However each of these are post-MotoGP concerns. Whereas this Suzuka outing – an opportunity to etch his title within the historical past books, be a part of what could be Honda’s thirtieth win and a record-breaking sixth win for Takahashi – is an surprising bonus whereas he is nonetheless in his prime but saddled most weekends with a motorcycle that simply can not do very a lot proper now.
