Zarco boosted by 'flying' Buriram form

When Johann Zarco packed up and left the Buriram MotoGP test in February, he was on top of the timesheets.

Only Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa was subsequently able to lap faster than the Frenchman (by 0.086s) and Zarco unsurprisingly heads for this weekend's inaugural Thai MotoGP with fond memories from his earlier visit.

The Buriram test was also a springboard for Zarco's stunning early season form, which ended with a fall from the lead group at Le Mans.

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider has had a best finish of seventh since, and slipped to eighth in the standings, but is only seven points from Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) in the battle to be top Independent rider.

“The Chang International Circuit is a nice track, which I could see already in February when we had three days of testing there," Zarco said.

"The last memory from this place is pretty positive, so it can be the time now to come back to a good feeling and a decent position to fight with the fastest guys again. I would love to be competitive on that track.

"I was feeling good there and also the others didn’t have an additional test there, so they maybe have a smaller advantage than during the last races. I’m happy to go there.

"We start a long trip with almost four races in a row, therefore it will be important to manage my body and my mood well, but I’m sure that these two things are going well. I think the public will be so awesome supporting all the riders. I can’t wait to get to Buriram.”

Team Manager Herve Poncharal admits a lot has changed since February, not least the tyre allocation, but is looking forward to what is set to be a hugely popular new event.

“Finally, we are all ready to fly to Buriram for the Thai Grand Prix. It’s an event everybody was waiting for," Poncharal said.

"I think the winter test went really, really well. There were a lot of people for a test and I can imagine that the organisation expects a record crowd, so everybody is flying there with a very positive frame of mind, because clearly it’s going to be an exciting round, but also a bit like unknown territory.

"For Monster Yamaha Tech3 the test was very positive, Johann was flying there and was the fastest guy when he stopped. Dani Pedrosa passed him for a few thousands when we were already on the road back to Bangkok.

"The feeling was great, which was unfortunately back in February. Since then a lot of things changed, many bikes improved, so we don’t really know what to expect in terms of competitiveness in comparison to our competitors…

"[But] clearly, we are excited, happy and we know how important MotoGP is for Thai supporters. I think we won’t forget the very first Thai Grand Prix, which will for sure be something very special.

"The circuit is ok, some riders think it’s a bit boring, but our guys liked it very much. It’s safe, the paddock is big enough to receive everybody in a professional way, so we just can’t wait to be there and to enjoy with our supporters."