It’s taken Johann Zarco longer than he had hoped, but the LCR Honda rider signed off the flyaway rounds having achieved his 2024 aim of putting the RC213V into the MotoGP top ten.
On course to finish the season as the top Honda rider, the Frenchman raised his best grand prix result of 12th in the opening half of the year to ninth (Mandalika) and then eighth (Buriram) during the flyaways.
Zarco's ninth in the dry Indonesian round was also his closest finish to the front, at +15.151s.
Qualifying has also been impressive, with Zarco making his latest Q2 appearance last time at Sepang, where he narrowly missed out on another top ten in the grand prix.
“I'm pretty happy with this result, and it's a good confirmation of these overseas races where I did a huge step forward in classification,” Zarco said.
“I'm in the positions that I announced as targeting at the beginning of the year.
"So it took maybe a bit of time, but better late than never.
“We have to be happy because it's a big step. I think I'm using much better the bike than at the beginning of the year and my comments have become much clearer.
“I can be precise and we get the answers on track, so it means I'm on the right way.”
Zarco cited a combination of the latest Honda aero and his own braking improvements for the step.
“We’ve improved a lot the fast corners. I think we got a bike that was turning better because of the aero and this helped us to make a step,” he said.
“[Braking] is really a technique, a skill that not many riders have, and I try to develop this skill because there is a big key point to understand here. And once you can unlock that, then you can enjoy on the bike.
“It's not about forcing more, it's playing between lean angle and slide and pressure. That makes a difference.”
The relentless run of races also helped.
“I tried to work on [braking] with the supermoto, even with my CBR, but I'm not riding a lot because I'm seven weeks away! So that's cool when you do all the races in a row, you have to take it as the best training ever.”
Zarco holds 17th in the world championship, with 53 points, heading into this weekend’s Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP season finale.
Team-mate Takaaki Nakagami is the next best Honda rider, with 31 points in 19th, followed by Joan Mir (21 points, 21st) and Marini (14 points, 22nd).
