Qatar GP – Zarco (8th): "I wanted to lead the race"

Star of last year’s Qatar Grand Prix over six laps, Johann Zarco shone again this year by dominating the first race of the 2018 season for 17 laps, before dropping down to eighth place final because of his front tire. Debriefing.

Johann Zarco, Yamaha Tech3 (1st in qualifying and 8th in race) : "I had a good weekend, the race was good", summarizes the French driver despite his eighth place at the finish. "Starting from pole position was a good feeling and a good opportunity to fight with the best".

"I got off to a good start and got the upper hand, because I wanted to lead the race. I was pretty comfortable here, unable to be faster than the others but no one passed me. . I tried to control the rear grip well to always have the possibility of getting out of the corners, which worked well. ".

"Then, seven laps from the end, I tried to push a little more to try to widen a gap, but already during the race I had a feeling of limit with the front, which I did not have known during the tests ", continues Zarco.

"When the others caught up with me five laps from the end, I really understood that I could no longer use the front tire correctly on the right side, and that’s why I couldn’t fight", analyzes the only one French pilot in the premier category. "It was really difficult, I almost crashed several times, but finishing eighth was better than nothing, because in these conditions it’s good to finish the race".

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Site analysis : For Johann Zarco, the points in common between this 2018 Qatar GP and the first event of last season are much less numerous than their differences, which are clearly to the advantage of the French driver.

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Because if,, Johann clearly dominated the race from the start, the first difference is that he held 17 laps in the lead instead of only six last year! Another major difference: Johann did not fall yesterday and remained 8th at the finish, pocketing 8 points which could prove to be invaluable at the time of the accounts, at the end of this season which promises to be particularly tight.

Finally, the French driver started this year from the first position on the grid, after beating the. So many differences that confirm his status as a top driver who will have to be counted on for the championship, just like Dovizioso, Marquez and Rossi….

Obviously the victim of a premature deterioration of his front tire, Zarco was unfortunately not able to reap all the fruits of his effort: unable to keep up with the pace at the end of the race, he had to bow to the pilots to whom he had paved the way for 17 laps: one by one, Doviziso, Marquez, Rossi, Crutchow, Petrucci and even Viñales, recovered from the depths of the ranking, carried the blow without being able to react…

There is no doubt that the n ° 5, always so calm and thoughtful, will know how to perfectly analyze this first “life-size test” of the season to try his luck again during the next event, the, which he had finished. .

Especially since his team manager shares this confidence: even if it is "sad to finish last in the group of eight drivers in the lead", Herve Poncharal stresses that "we must be optimistic and see the glass half full, not half empty because there are a lot of positive points: Johann is there, he will fight and I am quite sure that he will attack again for this victory, it is his dream and that of the whole team ".

"It was an incredible round!", Rejoices the boss of Tech3: "we were already very happy with the pole position, but we knew that the most difficult part would come on race day. Honestly, I expected to a tough fight, but not to Johann leading the race. He looked pretty comfortable. I can’t deny that I was starting to think there was a possibility of finally winning a race, but we could tell he was struggling. We thought it was because of the tires, which he confirmed. There was nothing he could do but hang on and wait for the flag. ".

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