Johann Zarco is one of the riders who has experimented the most with new manufacturers in MotoGP in recent years, and in 2024 he has a new chapter ahead, now with LCR Honda, a team he has already been with for three rounds. It remains to be seen what the Frenchman can bring to the structure, which runs with one of the most prominent bikes in the category, but not necessarily for the best reasons.
After four years at the helm of the Desmosedici, and having been one of the riders who experienced one of the biggest leaps in competitiveness of the Italian bike, Zarco can therefore be an important element in the evolution of the RC213V, a bike that he already had the opportunity to test in three occasions in 2019.
The #5 brings with him a lot of experience in the category, as well as with other manufacturers: this will be the eighth year for the rider, who already rode with Yamaha in 2017 and 2018, then with the colors of Monster Yamaha Tech3. He would eventually move to the KTM factory team in 2019, but things didn’t go well there, with Zarco never justifying the performances he had with the Yamaha M1, and he even terminated his contract with the Austrian team prematurely. It was after that that he had his first experience with Honda.
Then came Ducati, with Avintia receiving the rider, before he moved to Pramac. Now comes a new moment in his career, becoming a rider for LCR Honda, which raises the question: what can Zarco bring to the Japanese manufacturer?
In addition to experience in the category, Zarco also has know-how of other manufacturers, notably and in more recent years of the most competitive bike on the grid, and he is going precisely to a structure that is more than ever in need of “fresh blood,” both in terms of riders and in terms of its own perspective and ideas about the evolution of the bike, and it is precisely there that the Frenchman can be decisive.
Après avoir remporté sa première victoire en MotoGP, Zarco peut être considéré comme un pilote polyvalent et essentiel à la croissance de Honda. Il a montré à plusieurs reprises qu’il sait être prudent sur la piste, mais aussi agressif, ce qui est peut-être la caractéristique la plus marquante de sa personnalité sur la piste, quelque chose que l’on a peu vu chez Honda en 2023, à l’exception du “suspect” habituel, Marc Márquez, qui prendra exactement le chemin inverse en rejoignant Gresini Racing en 2024.
Takaaki Nakagami sera le coéquipier du pilote chez LCR, et c’est celui qui a le plus d’expérience, mais une philosophie différente, associée à l’expérience, peut faire de Zarco un élément clé de l’avenir de Honda, associé à la contribution d’un pilote plus jeune et aux idées fraîches, également en provenance de Ducati, Luca Marini, dans l’équipe d’usine.
Et il semble que les premières impressions du pilote soient positives, car lors des essais de Valence, il a ressenti une évolution par rapport au modèle de 2023 et celui de 2024, ce qui reste à confirmer au cours de l’année, avec les retours du pilote, associés à l’expérience et à la philosophie que Honda devra nécessairement adapter.
