On the sidelines of the last Grand Prix of the season, in Valencia, Johann Zarco confided in an interview with AFP that he could not imagine staying in MotoGP beyond his contract with Honda, which will end in 2027.
This Sunday, Johann Zarco will end a season which will have seen him experience some very great moments (a victory at the French Grand Prix) and other worse ones (five retirements in eight Grands Prix at the heart of the season). Currently 12th in the world championship standings, he will finish 10th at best at the end of the Valencia GP, having aimed for the Top 10 at the start of the season. This last GP was an opportunity for the 35-year-old Cannes driver to take stock, in an interview given to theAFP.
“Finishing in the Top 10 seemed like a big goal but it turns out I found myself able to do it, especially thanks to the top results at the start of the year – a victory and a second place. In the championship, it gave me a huge leap because I was fifth at one point. I would have imagined being there more regularly (in the Top 10), but in the end the objective remains within my reach and it is clearly achievable this weekend. I’m happy that Honda has progressed because in 2024, we were unable to follow 15th and now I’m disappointed when I’m not in the Top 10.”
The frustration of remaining in the satellite team
During the season, Johann Zarco learned that Honda would not promote him to the main team but that he would remain in the satellite team for the next two seasons, and he had difficulty digesting this decision, especially since he is the best driver of the Japanese brand this year (with 13 points ahead of Luca Marini).
“I was frustrated when there were developments among the others and I was told to wait, even though at that time I was well ahead of the other Honda riders. I hadn’t taken a vacation. I had done the Suzuka Eight Hours which we had won (in August). But I accepted it and I said to myself that by continuing with the same team for the next two years, the goal now is to be better in one year and to be even better in two years – and all of that will hopefully make me finish on the podium. »
Zarco: “I don’t see myself changing teams”
At the end of this two-year contract, Johann Zarco does not imagine going further in MotoGP. “I don’t see myself changing teams,” he confides. Are the two years I signed with them the last (in MotoGP)? Certainly. But to see because I was already thinking of living my last two years when I signed for 2024-2025. Finally, I came back for 2026-2027 with real motivation. »
Present in the motorcycle elite since 2017, after winning two world titles in Moto2, Johann Zarco, 5th in the world in 2021 and 2023, will remain one of the best French riders in the history of MotoGP.
