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 in 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 factory team of KTM in 2019, but things didn’t go well there, with Zarco never justifying the performances he had with the Yamaha M1, and he even ended his contract with the Austrian team prematurely, and 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 a new moment comes 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, particularly in recent years with 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 their own perspective and ideas about the evolution of the bike, and that is precisely where the Frenchman can be decisive.
Después de obtener su primera victoria en MotoGP, Zarco puede considerarse un piloto versátil y fundamental para el crecimiento de Honda. Ha demostrado en varias ocasiones que sabe ser cauteloso en la pista, pero también igualmente agresivo, siendo este quizás el rasgo más destacado de su personalidad en la pista, algo que en 2023 se vio poco en Honda, a excepción del “sospechoso” habitual, Marc Márquez, quien en 2024 sigue precisamente el camino opuesto al unirse a Gresini Racing.
Takaaki Nakagami será el compañero del piloto en LCR, y es quien tiene más experiencia, pero una filosofía diferente, junto con la experiencia, pueden convertir a Zarco en una pieza clave en el futuro de Honda, junto con la contribución de un piloto más joven y con ideas frescas, también proveniente de Ducati, Luca Marini, en el equipo de fábrica.
Y parece que por ahora las primeras impresiones del piloto han sido positivas, ya que en las pruebas de Valencia sintió una evolución en comparación con el modelo de 2023 y el de 2024, por lo que está por confirmar si esto ocurre durante el año, con la retroalimentación del piloto, junto con la experiencia y dentro de la filosofía que Honda tendrá, necesariamente, que adaptar.
