Drivers and teams – Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM –

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Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM

Drivers and teams - Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM -

The prospect of no longer reaching the forefront in MotoGP prompted Johann Zarco to break his two-year contract with KTM, after just eleven races on the RC16. See you soon 30 years old, the Cannes driver did not want to let slip his dream of wearing the crown in the premier category…

Johann Zarco – currently – returned to La Gazzetta dello Sport on the reasons which pushed him towards the early termination of his contract with KTM, during the national Grand Prix of his employer, before being "laid off" by the austrian brand.

  • MNC Premium : 
  • MNC of September 7, 2019 : 
  • MNC special file : 

This decision is naturally linked to its lack of competitiveness, but also to the fear of not being able to reverse the tendency to feel good on the MotoGP Orange. One statistic illustrates the failure of this association: Johann is the driver who fell the most in 2019 (17 crashes, including tests and races, including 4 on the Honda), despite his absence during three Grands Prix.

"Maybe I did not handle this challenge well and I made mistakes," admits frankly the one finally rebounded. “But I know in 2017 and 2018 I was fast and had a good pace: this year I went from brawls for the podium to brawls for 17th place. I was very angry, j ‘felt like I was losing my dream ".

Johann admits it nonetheless: certain changes in his environment also played a role, notably his decision to separate from his manager-mentor. The leaders of KTM – not tender with their former pilot – also believe that Laurent Fellon would certainly have helped him to …

  • MotoGP 2020 : 
  • MNC of September 23, 2019 : KTM balance (on) Zarco, deemed aggressive and not positive enough

"It has been a difficult year: a lot has happened, starting with the separation from my manager," he admits before courageously drawing the lessons of this season. "The KTM experience, if it didn’t make me get faster, made me more of a man".

Goal ? Become MotoGP World Champion

See you soon 30 – on July 16 – the two-time Moto2 world champion also knows that time is running out to get his first victory in MotoGP, and even more: "I’m not ten years ahead of me: I don’t I’m not Quartararo who is 20 years old – Editor’s note! – and who will have other opportunities if he does not succeed in a challenge ".

Drivers and teams - Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM -

"It needed a strong decision: at my age, people don’t give you a lot of opportunities to redeem yourself. Maybe I could have insisted, but I was losing momentum and I was afraid of ruining everything", remembers the French rider, who now turns his hopes on Ducati to reach his ultimate goal.

"It was a great experience, in pursuit of what remains my goal: to become world champion in MotoGP", continues Johann Zarco, 18th overall with 30 points. "This year the advance towards this goal has slowed down but now there is the Ducati opportunity".

"Nobody promised me Lorenzo’s motorcycle"

Before signing his contract with Ducati-Avintia – subject to direct support from the manufacturer – Johann Zarco had seriously evaluated the test rider offer offered by Yamaha. An interesting way to stay in the world of MotoGP, without however having any guarantees of becoming the holder again the following season…

Drivers and teams - Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM -

"With Yamaha we had prepared a contract for 2020, but they could not promise me anything for 2021," said the Cannes driver, who again took a radical turn: "And then the Honda opportunity arrived: there was no nothing, no one promised me Lorenzo’s bike, but I accepted, and the doubts I had about me disappeared as soon as I tried the bike ".

His three races on Nakagami’s Honda-LCR have indeed allowed him to regain confidence in his potential, even if his freelancing only ends up with a 13th place in Australia and two crashes – including one caused by Mir. Here again, French recognizes some errors…

“Motorcycles have enormous potential,” he emphasizes. "Except that three weekends of the race is not enough: I managed to lead it a little to the limit in Malaysia, but not in Valencia: I realize that I was not 100% focused".

Drivers and teams - Johann Zarco was afraid of losing his dream at KTM -

"Before the start I was sad, because I understood that even if I had won the podium I would not have stayed: it could be the last race of my career", Johann remembers with emotion: the HRC is was then pronounced in favor of Alex Marquez to replace Jorge Lorenzo in 2020… 

  • MNC of November 15, 2019 : The reasons for Lorenzo’s retirement

Ironically, the trajectories of Lorenzo and Zarco will perhaps continue to intersect since it is rumored that the Mallorcan could – already – leave to accept the position declined by the French: development pilot of the M1, on demand from Yamaha! Stay connected.

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