LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco says he feels like his bike belongs in MotoGP once again after his run to 12th place in the Australian Grand Prix.
While the result itself was only a minor success for the struggling Japanese marque, what encouraged the Frenchman was the race pace and the time gap to Francesco Bagnaia on the last step of the podium.
"It was impressive pace," enthused Zarco. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing on my dash. We did almost the entire race below the 1m29s [mark].
"I put my full focus on repeating everything I was doing and I stayed with the guys in front of me. I'm happy because the race pace was impressive.
"The bike still has this limit I'm fighting with, that I cannot turn the bike as I want and control the traction. I need to be very conservative – I lose metres compared to the others.
"But we have to remember that a few months ago it seemed like we were not playing in the same category.
"Today we were with the others. And we were only 10 seconds from Pecco today, which is positive."
Zarco's race result in Australia was his sixth points finish in succession, with the highlight a ninth place in Indonesia two races ago.
Zarco qualified 14th, alongside factory rider Luca Marini, whose 13th place was his best starting position of the season. Marini also scored points in the grand prix with a 14th place.
The Frenchman's confidence has been echoed by other Honda riders recently. Former world champion Joan Mir was also upbeat about recent progress at the preceding round in Japan, which added to the factory rider's frustration after being taken out of that race by Alex Marquez.
On the other hand, it may be difficult to read too much into Zarco's confidence following this performance in Australia.
Firstly, Zarco has an affinity for the track after winning his only grand prix at Phillip Island for Pramac Ducati in 2023.
Secondly, Phillip Island is a track at which the gaps are generally closer and riders can make up for motorcycle deficiencies. That effect was accentuated in 2024 by the lack of dry track time, which limited Ducati's ability to exploit the number of machines it has gathering data, for example.
In Honda's ongoing effort to improve its MotoGP fortunes, the manufacturer has hired current Aprilia technical director Romano Albesiano to its staff. He will begin his duties at the start of the 2025 season.
