Japanese Grand Prix: Unfortunate Sprint for Zarco in Motegi

CASTROL Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco ended his Saturday’s Sprint early at Motegi.

• After qualifying 11th and making a strong start, Zarco was caught up in a collision. Fortunately, he avoided crashing, but as a result of the incident, he ended up at the back of the field.
• As the laps went by, Zarco recovered several positions, but after a few mistakes and feeling he was close to the limit, he decided to enter the pits.
• Despite ending his race early, the Frenchman said he felt good overall on the bike during the sessions and highlighted solid improvements with the new HRC package.
• Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, the insights gathered from today’s Sprint will help Johann and the team take another step forward.

“I had a good start, but I was unlucky to be caught in the middle of the collision. It was scary seeing Martin between the bikes and seeing Bezzecchi get hit, and I was fortunate. Then I was in last position and tried to recover as much as possible. At the beginning, I had a decent pace, but following the rest of the rivals was quite difficult. I wanted to keep a good rhythm, but I felt I was at the limit. I made some mistakes and didn’t want to end up in the gravel, so I decided to stop”.