GP of Thailand – Zarco (5th): "I’m not far from the winner"
The return to favor of Yamaha at the 2018 Thailand GP benefits not only Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi (3rd and 4th), but also Johann Zarco who follows them in 5th place. Problem: nobody really explains this sudden increase in competitiveness … Debriefing.
Johann Zarco, Yamaha Tech3 (8th in qualifying and 5th in race) : "It’s a track that I like and on which the test had already been conclusive. This weekend I was struggling because I had trouble finding a good rhythm, but in the end I was less in difficulty than I was I thought. I could stay in the front, even though there was still a gap in the acceleration. So I had to compensate, but when you try to make up for that deficit in acceleration under braking, you easily make a mistake and it was quite difficult. I struggled against Viñales at the start but I made a mistake and had to fight to catch up. The pace was good. Then I saw Rins, I could still attack and I passed Crutchlow, then Pedrosa crashed ".
“So it was a tough race for me, but I think it was also tough for the others. In the end I got into a fight with Rins who was in front of me. I felt comfortable enough to catch him, but I knew I had to stay focused to not make any mistakes. Eventually he widened a bit and I was able to take the inside in turn 9 and then hold on to fifth position. I’m pretty happy because I didn’t am not far from the winner (2.7 seconds, Editor’s note) and being the first independent is very good for the general classification ".
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Site analysis : Johann Zarco did indeed have a great race, which we can only be delighted about! The Tech3 driver keeps his with 123 points, but he narrows his delay in the race for the "title" of first independent driver with 3 points behind Petrucci and 5 over Cruchlow.
More importantly: Johann Zarco signs a convincing return to the Top 5, a position he had not been able to reach since his in May. What boost the confidence of the French driver, completely lost with his M1 for several races.
But beyond this result, the fact that no one seems able to explain this return of the Yamaha to the forefront (Viñales 3rd, Rossi 4th, Zarco 5th and Syahrin 12th) worries about the ability to understand the they have. known … and therefore on the means to solve them! After the (14th to 32 sec from the winner), Johann himself did not expect such a result despite his excellent lap times in February.
“A lot has changed since that time,” the Tech3 team cautiously underlined before the first practice sessions for the GP of Thailand, during which Johann had already put himself forward, without however appearing to be convinced that he could play in front. As if he was afraid of getting excited too quickly before having a cold shower during the race…
“We went through difficult times”
Same analysis for the team manager: “a top 5 is an incredible result, very close to the leaders”, confirms Herve Poncharal. “Yamaha finished 3rd, 4th and 5th and we are right behind the factories and best independent rider, which is quite often impossible. The independent championship is very close between Johann, Cal and Danilo. It”s really exciting and I”m very happy for Johann and the whole team, because recently we have gone through some difficult times and we know that a positive result brings a lot of positive spirit and that the result is in the mind of the pilot “.
Hopefully, a thorough analysis of the data from the GP of Thailand will allow us to continue talking about these "difficult times" in the past, so that the Yamaha riders can put all the odds in their favor for the next GP of Japan on, where Marquez can already be titled 2018 world champion … on the land of its manufacturer !
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