Johann Zarco’s Japanese Grand Prix ended in disappointment after the Castrol Honda LCR rider crashed with five laps remaining in Sunday’s race at Motegi, bringing an otherwise promising weekend to a difficult close.
Zarco had shown strong pace from the opening day, finishing Friday in 10th and securing a direct place in Q2. The Frenchman immediately felt comfortable with his Honda on Motegi’s new surface and continued to improve throughout the day.
Although he crashed during the closing stages of the afternoon session, his earlier lap time was enough to keep him inside the top 10 and secure his Q2 spot.
“The crash was quite strong, but luckily I’m fine. It’s just a bruise. I was a bit scared about losing the Q2 spot, but luckily I’m still in!” Zarco said.
“We showed good potential today, which is very positive and important heading into the weekend.”
That pace carried into Saturday, when Zarco delivered a solid performance in the Sprint to finish seventh and collect valuable championship points.
Starting strongly, he quickly gained positions and settled into a battle for the top 10. However, after several laps, he struggled to maintain the pace of the riders ahead and eventually lost contact with the group.
“After a few laps, I struggled to get below 1’44 and lost contact. I’m happy to have won my battle with Raul and defended seventh, but I’m disappointed that I couldn’t match the pace of the riders ahead,” he said.
Despite the pace concerns, Zarco held his position through the closing laps to secure seventh and add points to his championship tally.
Sunday proved to be a much tougher challenge.
Starting from 10th on the grid, Zarco was handed a double Long Lap penalty after attempting to restart his bike during the Warm Up following a crash at Turn 9, while riding in the opposite direction.
He nevertheless made a strong start to the race and battled inside the top 10 before serving the penalty. Once the sanction was completed, Zarco began working his way back through the field and fought his way into the points-paying positions.
The Frenchman felt competitive during the race and enjoyed several battles, but his comeback was ultimately cut short with five laps remaining when he crashed.
Zarco was able to rejoin the race and finish in 20th, two laps down, bringing a frustrating end to a weekend that had otherwise featured promising pace and a Sprint points finish.
“Unfortunately, I had to serve the double Long Lap penalty, and afterwards I had lost some grip, which made it difficult to overtake. I made a small mistake; I had done my maximum to stay there, but then I crashed. It’s part of racing, I guess,” Zarco said.
“I’ll take the positives, and now we head to Mandalika!”
With Motegi now behind him, Zarco will look to carry the positives from his qualifying pace and Sprint performance into next weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika.
