Johann Zarco heads into the 2026 MotoGP season seeking to re-establish himself alongside manufacturing facility Honda riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini, even when he is aware of the answer won’t be so simple as copying their set-up.
Zarco successfully carried Honda by its most troublesome interval in 2024 and early 2025, delivering a well-known victory on the rain-hit French Grand Prix final 12 months earlier than notching up one other podium at Silverstone shortly afterwards.
However when Honda introduced a sizeable replace halfway by 2025 that genuinely turned the RC213V right into a aggressive machine, Zarco struggled to regulate to the brand new bike and fell behind Mir and Marini within the aggressive order. In reality, the state of affairs grew to become so dire that at one level, he needed to revert to his earlier spec bike in quest of the lacking confidence.
The brand new season represents one thing of a reset for the Frenchman as he enters the primary marketing campaign of a two-year contract signed late final season.
Honda is raring for its satellite tv for pc LCR outfit to contribute extra persistently after ending next-to-bottom within the groups’ standings, regardless of the manufacturing facility’s late resurgence. With rookie Diogo Moreira needing time to rise up to hurry within the premier class, a lot of the duty falls on Zarco to ship outcomes and hit the bottom operating when the season begins.
One issue that would work in his favour is the anticipated stability of the RC213V this 12 months. With Honda already diverting vital sources in the direction of its 2027 850cc mission, the present bike is unlikely to endure main in-season modifications after the primary quarter of the 12 months.
Joan Mir, Honda HRC, Luca Marini, Honda HRC
Picture by: MotoGP
“I’m working with my technician to arrange for the season, to have this risk to react shortly in case of issues as a result of I really feel good on the bike and I do know my bike. After I share my feedback, they’ll change one thing and it really works,” Zarco defined.
“We had been controlling this very effectively final 12 months. Then I misplaced this move through the season when the bike began to vary. Now we all know the bike won’t change an excessive amount of this 12 months as a result of now we have one other mission for ‘27, so I’m wanting ahead to engaged on small issues that give so much to the rider.”
Rebuilding course of begins at Sepang
Zarco spent the opening day of the Sepang check finishing growth work for LCR and Honda, leaving little time to seek out the ‘feeling’ riders search for from their bikes.
There was some tangible progress on the second day as he managed to extract extra tempo from the RC213V. Nevertheless, he couldn’t really feel as snug as Mir and Marini, having adopted the HRC duo immediately on observe. An intense bathe within the afternoon didn’t assist issues and consigned a lot of the grid to the storage.
Lastly, he struck the fitting chord together with his Honda on day three, the breakthrough permitting him to complete fifteenth on the timesheets, three tenths down on Mir however forward of Marini.
“I completed the Sepang check on a constructive word,” added Zarco. “The sensation acquired higher and higher as a result of the best way I began on the primary day and the second day, I used to be struggling a bit as a result of what I used to be doing on the bike was not likely working.
“You can really feel there was a great potential to go quick and Mir and Marini had been making constructive feedback, however I may not likely be as constructive as them. However on the finish of the second day and the third day, I have been a bit extra constructive and extra fixed. So, this was actually good. I believe the bike has improved very effectively.”
Johann Zarco, Workforce LCR Honda
Picture by: LCR Honda MotoGP Workforce
That mentioned, Zarco is conscious that he nonetheless has a variety of work to do within the Buriram check on 21-22 February earlier than the season-opening Thai Grand Prix on 1 March. Primarily, efficiency on used tyres stays a priority for him.
“I nonetheless must get a great stability. A race bike could be very delicate and to be on the fitting stability shouldn’t be straightforward. However when you get it, then you may have a variety of enjoyable, and that would be the goal at Buriram,” he mentioned.
“Perhaps we nonetheless battle with the tyre drop. Everybody has a tyre drop right here in Malaysia. However from my facet, when it begins to drop, the management of the bike will get increasingly more troublesome. Then each lap will get worse and worse.
“It was my weak level through the race final 12 months. I nonetheless really feel that I didn’t enhance this level effectively sufficient. Let’s see how Buriram is doing with totally different tyres, however we are able to have just a little little bit of the identical behaviour. I do know this will probably be some extent that I’ve to discover a answer for through the season.”
As was the case final 12 months, Zarco is conscious that he can not mirror the identical set-up course as Mir and Marini. As an alternative, he feels he wants a bespoke answer in keeping with his necessities and driving fashion.
Requested the place he felt he made the most important enchancment over the course of the Sepang check, the 35-year-old mentioned: “The management on the bike. This comes with set-up. I must have my very own set-up as a result of clearly, we can not copy what the opposite guys do, even when they’re tremendous constructive with what they’re doing.
“Due to the morphology of the our bodies, they [Mir and Marini] are so totally different. And we are able to see that the place you place your weight on the bike makes a variety of distinction. In order that’s why we have to perceive easy methods to make the bike [tailored] for me.”
We would like your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Workforce
