Zarco: ‘Target is to reach level’ of Bagnaia, Martin says ‘pace is the same…’

Second fastest to round out MotoGP pre-season testing at Portimao, Johann Zarco was part of seven Ducati riders finishing inside the top eight positions, although two tenths remained between himself and world champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Robert Jones

13 Mar 2023

Johann Zarco, Pramac Ducati MotoGP Portimao 2023

As was the case with fellow Ducati rider Luca Marini on day-one, the MotoGP champion held a two tenths gap over the Pramac rider in second place after setting the only sub 1m 38s lap time of the test.

A circuit where he claimed second place during the Grand Prix in 2022, Zarco narrowly pipped fellow countryman Fabio Quartararo.

But with no more testing left ahead of the season-opener, and Bagnaia seemingly holding an advantage over the rest of Ducati’s riders, reaching the same level as the factory rider is therefore Zarco’s main objective.

"Pretty happy with the performance on the day," Zarco told MotoGP.com. "Was also good that yesterday after a lot of work I was focused on the last day for small details and to find performance on the time attack to get faster.

"I did it so that is a positive. Work is pretty interesting and when you want it you can do it. The image of the time attack is there and was very impressive the lap time from Pecco [Bagnaia].

"He is really controlling the situation and this is my target to reach this level. For the race pace, I didn’t take the time to do many laps in a row. But I did many runs with used tyres and we got an idea of what the situation can be, the behaviour of the bike."

Jorge Martin reveals new fairings ahead of 2023 MotoGP campaign

Although Ducati looked the most polished heading into the first race of the year, that didn’t stop its riders from testing different items on the final day of testing.

Martin was one of those who tried different fairings in a bid to find more performance, while also testing new parts on the rear of the bike, although the anticipated improvement was not made.

Despite that, Martin left day-two feeling confident about where he is: "It was a really positive test. In general, I felt super good with the bike. Today we were focused on trying different fairings and things on the rear of the bike that I cannot tell [what they are].

"But I did not like quite a lot. The pace is still the same as yesterday and in Sepang. I’ve been working a lot on the maps and Sprint race simulation.

"I felt quite confident and was super strong. We didn’t make a time attack because it wasn’t necessary to take the risks."