“Scared for the knee” - Johann Zarco’s “crash test” then Moreira near miss
Johann Zarco gave his recovering knee a “good crash test” in Austria, team-mate Diogo Moreira followed him into the gravel.
Johann Zarco gave his recovering left knee a “good crash test” during Friday practice for the Austrian MotoGP.
The LCR Honda rider recently returned to action after more than 100 days out with ligament damage suffered in Catalunya, when his leg became tangled in Pecco Bagnaia’s rear wheel after falling on the restart.
When Zarco ran into the Turn 4 gravel on Friday afternoon, a high-speed wobble forced him to use his feet in an attempt to stay upright before eventually falling.
“It was a good crash test for my knee because I did some wobble in the gravel and I was a bit scared for the knee," said Zarco. “This is the kind of [twisting] movement that can create some pain and fortunately no damage so that was positive, but I've been a bit scared.”
Another scare followed moments later when team-mate Diogo Moreira also ran through the same gravel trap, narrowly avoiding Zarco.
“I was already braking but it was impossible to stop the bike. I was trying a different setup,” Moreira explained. “I didn't see yellow flags, I saw just the marshal running. It was a scary moment.”
The FIM MotoGP Stewards ruled that Moreira was not to blame and took no further action.
Zarco also explained why Turn 4 produced so many off-track excursions during the session.
“That downhill is extreme, and you feel that maybe you can gain a bit on the deceleration,” Zarco said. “I don't try to brake much later, but I just try to get a bit more speed to go in and many times it's too much.”
The session ended with Zarco just missing direct access into Q2 despite lapping within half a second of pace-setter Pedro Acosta.
“On the last time attack, I was improving and I had the speed to go in Q2, but I was not relaxed enough on the bike. Just a bit of tension on the last sector,” he said.
“But I think the speed is quite good this weekend. If I can have make a small improvement, I can get a good qualifying, also in Q2 and prepare well for the race.”
Luca Marini was 0.044s ahead of Zarco as the leading Honda, but also missed the crucial top ten cut.
Moreira finished just behind Zarco in 13th.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
