Johann Zarco “forgot” MotoGP rule that landed him double long-lap penalty

Johann Zarco crashed twice on Sunday at the Japanese MotoGP, but it was his fall in warm-up that proved more costly out of the two. 

Zarco crashed while following Maverick Vinales during the 24-lap grand prix, however, a fall in morning warm-up cost the Frenchman a double long-lap penalty.

That’s because Zarco “forgot” MotoGP’s new-for-2026 engine restart rules, which prohibit a rider from trying to push-start their machine at the side of the track. 

“About the penalty, this is the rule,” said Zarco. “You cannot restart the bike but I forgot it. 

“The warm-up was extended by ten minutes to have the possibility to try the hard tyre, and we wanted to compare between the medium and the hard. 

“So it was planned to do two laps then swap the bike and try the other one. At this moment, when I slid, I tried to keep the engine on and it was still on when I tried to pick up the bike. 

“Then, when I picked up the bike it stopped. It was instinct to try and restart [it] but I got this double long-lap.”

Zarco was one two riders that was given a double long-lap penalty for Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP, the other being Alex Marquez, who caused a collision with Pedro Acosta and Fabio di Giannantonio in the sprint.

Zarco was in the mix to score points before his crash, something neither LCR rider managed after team-mate Diogo Moreira also crashed out of ninth position.

Speaking about his performance in the grand prix, Zarco said: “I had some fun during the race because from the start I had a good fight, I was able to overtake, then I had these two long laps, but I was still able to fight and overtake. 

“I was feeling quite strong, but when I reached Vinales it was like I had cruise control. 

“I could not do anything. Maverick was riding well but I could not use this extra [performance] that I had at the beginning of the race. 

“Maybe I lost a bit of grip, and maybe the bike got too hot behind Maverick. I lost a lot of possibility on the bike and it was so hard to overtake him, or to stay close to overtake him.  

“He did a little mistake in turn five and I was very close, and I did my maximum to stay close by turn 10, because I knew in turn 10 that I could turn quite tight and try to overtake because he was going quite wide.

“But in the moment that I tried it, I crashed. I didn’t expect it. It would have been nice to get some points for this race.”