Johann Zarco seeks silver lining at Assen: “We were 42 seconds away, today 24”

Johann Zarco cut his time gap to the Dutch MotoGP winner by 17.4s in this year’s grand prix, but it was only enough for twelfth place and a 24.875s deficit to Marc Marquez.

Zarco was one of eleven riders to complete both the 2024 and 2025 MotoGP races, and among only five riders to move closer to victory this year.

“Some satisfaction to get four points after the zeros from Aragon and Mugello,” said Zarco, who was also the top Honda finisher following Joan Mir’s retirement.

“I had a big opportunity because when the riders crashed, I was in eighth, just behind di Giannantonio. But it was just impossible to follow him.

“So it's tough to feel a step back. But when you look at the gap with the first rider, we didn't do a big step back.

“Last year we were 42 seconds away from the winner, today 24 (see table below). So we cannot see everything in a negative way.

“But the feeling on the bike and not being able to follow other riders, this was very difficult for me this weekend.

“Every time we had something a bit positive, the next day we were making a step back. 

"So maybe we reached some limit and I don't understand why we are not able to fix it.”

Zarco and Marc Marquez were the only 2025 finishers to improve on their Assen race time from last year.

Franco Morbidelli (long lap penalty this year), Fabio Quartararo (who lost seven seconds avoiding an accident for Fermin Aldeguer on Sunday) and Raul Fernandez moved closer to victory despite having a slower race time.

At the other end of the spectrum, last year’s winner Francesco Bagnaia was among six riders to post a slower time over the 26 laps than in 2024. 

Former Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini suffered the biggest drop, from +7 seconds (third) to +23 seconds (ninth) at Tech3 KTM:

*Before tyre pressure penalty (above and below).