French Moto GP rider Johann Zarco confided in 20 minutes around a few golf holes near Avignon, his base camp, between two pre-season tests with his Pramac Racing team. A three-year loyalty with his Ducati which makes him hope for a first victory this season, and above all a lot of “kif” at 33 years old.
How did your first tests at Sepang go?
It was three super intense days, as usual. You prepare all winter and when you get back on the bike in Malaysia, from the first day you say to yourself “damn it’s difficult”, because of the intensity, the opponents who ride faster and faster, the heat. Everything is oversized, but that’s the challenge.
Are there any big changes from year to year?
Ducati has won everything in 2022 so much that you can’t revolutionize a motorcycle that wins so much. For them it’s always how to improve the use of the 300 horsepower, because we could have more, but we have to succeed so that they can push forward and above all that they don’t make the bike pitch up. . They are always working on aerodynamics, in the end this is what can make the most difference to the speeds at which you are driving.
How do you feel about this bike?
The objective this year is to be able to be more natural with the bike, to be more efficient during the races, and above all more regular throughout the year. The last two years, a little by my method and my way of compensating, I held on. But at the end of the year, we saw that I couldn’t hold on any longer and it was because I lacked ease on the bike.
We talk about speed, aero, but ultimately what matters most to you is the feeling on the bike?
I talk a little less technical because from the moment I think I have the best bike, I don’t make any excuses about the bike, and there’s nothing left to do. So I’m talking about feeling. I say drive naturally because all drivers at this level have qualities. By my way of often doubting myself, I will no longer think about these qualities, I will think about doing things that are not in my nature. So I’ve evolved a lot, but I haven’t won yet because we see that winning is more a state of grace than breaking everything down and trying to do things you don’t know how to do.
Is it this click that could bring you this first victory in MotoGP?
I think so. Every time I say “I’m missing a little thing”, and putting everything together is not easy. It’s easier to put everything together if it comes naturally, because if you start thinking about it, it’s easy to forget something.
I have the impression that you are someone who thinks a lot about his machine?
I grew up in this way by dissecting all the driving phases, it made me grow enormously. Afterwards, I also had a period when I did everything naturally because everything was in phase, and I just had to let go. There I am a bit on this period where I feel that everything is in phase, and that there is more to let go. But letting go is perhaps a little more difficult, it doesn’t come with a snap of the fingers. Because it hasn’t come naturally for a couple of years, and also because we are less likely to free ourselves at 33 than at 20 or 25. And so there is this whole somewhat conservative state of mind, let’s say, which can create limits, the challenge is to gradually free them.
What is your goal for the season?
Live well all the races, especially since now we have two races per weekend [courses sprint le samedi] to enjoy. That each race is a kif, and not a weight that weighs you down because you know it’s going to be hard, that the opponents are strong. No, you feel capable of fighting with guys and it’s really fun. And if it likes it, it can play the win.
How is your team made up?
I have a physical trainer with whom I work remotely. There’s Guillaume, my manager and agent, who I’m not with all the time since he’s in Bordeaux. The whole agent and manager side is essential. I was doing without until now, during the Covid periods it was not so bad to be direct with the partners or the employer, it made a more direct relationship, it was good to work on trust. But now business has picked up and so you need someone whose job it is and who will worry about it every day, because it’s becoming a headache. I also do a bit of mental work, with ex-swimmer Grégory Mallet, a person with a fairly similar profile, so he can guide me on this internal discourse to bring positive things and get my strengths and not question them. And always my physio who follows me, on all the GPs, the person with whom I will spend the most time.
Do the Ducatis always seem so dominant to you?
I believe, even more than last year. The Pramac team, we are in place, Martin [son coéquipier] has more experience. The VR46, with Marini and Bezzecchi, handles its subject very well. The Gresini team, even if they lose Bastianini [départ chez Ducati officiel], they recover Alex Marquez. So there are clearly at least six out of eight Ducatis that will be ahead. So when you say to yourself “I’m going to make top 10” and there are eight Ducati, it’s hot. That’s why I consider Ducati even stronger than last year.
Is this loyalty to Pramac bearing fruit?
Completely, I see it with the tests, I don’t take my head and we try things differently. We’re not going to try to set absolute times. And without trying to do it, with practice, I find myself less than a second behind the best when the level is higher and higher. Thanks to this experience with the same motorcycle, I do things naturally, without realizing it. And as soon as you concentrate, it’s to be at the top level, it’s a pleasant feeling.
How do you see the future?
It’s hard to say, I live a bit from year to year. And that’s also how my contract works. If I can win, if I play for the podiums, the contracts renew almost automatically. Because a driver who plays for the podium is in demand and that’s what I’ve been doing since 2021 and 2022. I tell myself that it can still do it this year, especially if I unlock the victory counter. Moto GP is the most intense, the most fun, it’s also what gives you the best income, so there’s no reason to aim for anything else. I won’t do like Valentino [Rossi] up to 42 years old. I am 33 years old, is it possible until 35? We must see.
Have you noticed a change on the part of the public towards Moto GP since Fabio Quartararo’s title?
With Fabio we are almost ten years apart. His title had a boom effect, it’s top eh, as I say I prefer that it is a Frenchman rather than a Spaniard who wins a world title. With my two titles in Moto 2 at the level of enthusiasts, my image has not changed, they are still on the job. For the general public, clearly succeeding in Moto GP makes it possible to make your name known beyond.