Where Johann Zarco’s home MotoGP race unravelled

LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco believes the crash in FP2 ultimately “affected my confidence” in the MotoGP French Grand Prix, as he struggled to 11th.

The Frenchman returned to Le Mans 12 months on from his sensational victory in wet conditions, with uncertain forecasts raising questions about a repeat.

After topping Friday practice, Johann Zarco’s weekend began to unravel from a crash in FP2, with the Frenchman qualifying 11th and finishing there in the dry grand prix.

Though he says he had a “good feeling” on his Honda, Zarco believes the crash in FP2 ultimately robbed him of confidence to push throughout the rest of the weekend.

“It was a tough weekend,” he said.

“It wasn’t the performance we wanted. The little crash on Saturday morning affected my confidence, and once you lose a bit, you lose it everywhere.

“During today’s race, I tried to stay on the bike, but I wasn’t competitive, and I struggled.

“Overall, the positive is that when I have a good feeling, we can see that something great is possible with this bike.

“The target is to repeat the strong performances we can achieve when we feel good. We’ll try again in Barcelona.”

Honda enjoyed a solid weekend at Le Mans, with Joan Mir finishing sixth in the sprint and on course to do so again in the grand prix before crashing out.

Speaking further about his home round to Canal+, Zarco added: “I realise, at nearly 36 years old, that skipping active recovery sessions over the weekend, or skipping treatment with a physical therapist or physiotherapist—putting all that aside and telling myself, ‘I’ll manage anyway’—I think that under normal conditions…

“If it rains, it’s a different story, because you don’t use the same amount of energy.

“But in dry conditions, you can no longer afford to put off addressing a lack of physical energy at the start.”