Twelfth at the end of the first real MotoGP winter test at the Malaysian track Johann Zarco came away with a smile and less critical of Honda than usual.
According to the LCR rider, progress was indeed made and although to date it is difficult to pinpoint the reason, the mere fact that he finished less than a second behind the first, Morbidelli, gives confidence for the long World Championship that is about to begin.
"The test was positive, even more than expected. Very good performance on the last day. Seeing that we are getting closer to the best gives you morale.
Compared to the past in our disadvantage is not so wide anymore. In the past few days we have been trying different things, and on Friday we were able to put it all together.
Nothing that made a huge difference, but in general we can have more control of the bike, so I am happy.
Now we will go to Thailand to continue with the analysis work and choose the best package to start the season and which parts to keep for homologation," said the French rider.
Is the weakest component of the RC213V still the engine?
"From a certain point of view yes, because there are very strong bikes in acceleration and when we are behind we lose ground. So it is a tricky area for us, although analyzing all the corners it remains clear that it is not our only weakness.
There are several aspects to work on in order to have better sensations and I must say that in Sepang I had them. As for the powertrain, I could not give a suggestion on how to implement it.
In Honda they are working hard to bring out more power. Hopefully, during the championship we can have something better.
I personally believe that we can fight for the top 10 from the first races, which then is my goal."
Have you found the bike to solve the grip problems at the rear
"Let's say we tried different solutions and I think we found something very interesting by doing the comparison between the different Hondas on the track.
I don't know what it is, because I gave my impressions, but I couldn't say why there was an improvement. It will be up to the Japanese engineers to find out.
We tried to give quick feedback, Chantra himself learned everything quickly. I finished feeling comfortable, and I hope to continue to confirm the feeling."
