Johann Zarco confirms what the tipping point is
Johann Zarco, LCR Honda team rider, finished ninth in the practice session, completing 74 laps over the course of the day on Monday. The work focused on different configurations of the bike to improve the feeling in the saddle and evaluate various technical solutions. Also favored by the good weather conditions, Zarco completed the planned program, gathering useful indications for the team.
“As expected, we tried different configurations of the bike, even though we had no new components to develop,” added the Frenchman. “From what emerged in the race in Jerez, the fast corners remain a critical point for us, especially in terms of naturalness in corner entry. Improving in this aspect will also help us to better manage tire consumption over the distance. All the runs we made provided valuable data for the engineers. Overall it was a good day and accumulating laps is always useful.”
Ninth place in the test closely mirrors the performance shown by Zarco throughout the Spanish weekend. The French rider had already showcased the potential of his Honda LCR in Saturday’s qualifying, finishing second behind Marc Marquez with a delay of only 140 thousandths: a remarkable result that had propelled him to the front row of the grid. In the race, Zarco then crossed the line in seventh position, confirming a good consistency of performance over the Andalusian weekend.
The test day also featured other riders engaged in intense development programs. Particularly active was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who finished eighth in the session after leading the timesheets for much of the day. The Roman rider of the VR46 team tested numerous solutions on his Ducati Desmosedici GP, including several aerodynamic components, also completing 74 laps with a best time of 1’36″477. “I’m satisfied, it was probably the most intense test we’ve ever done,” said Di Giannantonio. “We found some interesting improvements and I can’t wait to be able to use them in the race. The most obvious new feature is the new fairing, but I’m equally happy with other less visible changes that have helped me especially in braking and corner entry, exactly what I needed.”
The next engagement for Zarco and the rest of the MotoGP group will be the French Grand Prix, scheduled for May 8-10 at the Le Mans circuit. The transalpine track will be an important test to see if the indications gathered during the test day in Jerez will translate into concrete progress, especially in the faster sections of the course.
