Johann Zarco “controlled traction better than others” for P5 in British MotoGP Sprint

French Grand Prix winner Johann Zarco says the key to his charge to fifth place in the British MotoGP Sprint was his ability to “control my traction”.

Tyre consumption was a key factor in the 10-lap race at Silverstone, with several riders suffering from the midway point onwards.

Zarco, on the other hand, went forwards in the second half of the race, finishing fifth ahead of factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia.

“Very strong,” Zarco summarised after the Sprint. “I was happy, it was cool.

“Starting P9 here is a bit tough because you are inside at the first corner and you can lose too much speed. Then you don’t know where to go for the second corner and position for the third corner is not easy.

“I tried to gain positions but I lost one position, but my start was good.

“I knew that I could do a good lap time with fresh tyres but I was a bit worried for the pace; but for the Sprint I think we got good information and I could control my pace pretty well and, overall, control my traction better than the others.

“At the end, this gave me the advantage at the end with the guys I was [around]: first, Jack Miller who had been struggling a lot; I overtook him and then with Quartararo and Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] – it was so good.

“Bez [Marco Bezzecchi] overtook me, and I saw him like in Texas, that when he has the pace don’t even try to fight because he is faster anyway and I could see it.

“But I was happy to, with my style, have an advantage and get this P5 which is very good.”

Zarco expanded on his ability to maintain tyre life at the end of the Sprint.

“I think it’s my style,” he said, “the way I use my body into the corner.

“Sometimes it doesn’t help me, but here with the tyre dropping – from lap five to lap 10, every lap the tyre was dropping – when I saw it I said ‘Okay, try to control it.’

“I was playing also with my power map.

“But what we did from qualifying to the [Sprint], we still adjusted a bit the bike and I got a much better feeling to control my bike, to go into the corner, to be close to the others and to be ready to fight.

“When I had the opportunity to overtake – even the overtake on Marini was a nice one – it was important when you feel you have the speed to also get the opportunity to overtake, because sometimes you have the speed but you cannot pass and I could do both things today.”

The LCR Honda rider added that he feels most comfortable with the front end of the Honda, and that finding this feeling is the key to any weekend.

“The front feeling is pretty good with the bike but it’s not easy to have it all the time,” he said.

“In the last races, I know it’s the strong point, so I try to have it as soon as possible but sometimes I get nervous because I cannot get it and I feel that some speed is missing when I cannot get it.

“Today, in the race, it was there, so then I can play with the rest of the bike to keep things under control.”