French Grand Prix winner Johann Zarco says the key to his accusation of fifth place in the British Motogpsprint was his ability to “control my traction.”
Tire consumption was a key factor in the 10-lap race at Silverstone, with several riders struggling after midpoint.
Meanwhile, Zarco went into the second half of the race, finishing fifth ahead of the factory Ducati Rider Francesco Bagnaia.
“It’s very strong,” Zarco summed up after the sprint. “I was happy, it was cool.
“Starting the P9 is a bit difficult because you are in the first corner and you may lose speed. Then where to go in the second corner or the third corner is not easy.
“I tried to get a position and lost one position, but my start was good.
“I knew I could have good lap times with fresh tires, but I was a bit worried about the pace, but for the sprint, I think we got good information.
“At the end, this gave me the advantages, along with the people I was (around). First, I overtook him and then overtook him with Quartarraro and Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia). It was very good.
“Bez (Marco Bezzecchi) overtook me. He looked at him like Texas.
“But in my style, I had the advantage and was happy to have this P5.
Zarco has expanded its ability to maintain tire lifespan at the end of the sprint.
“I think that’s my style,” he said, “the way I use my body in the corner.
“Sometimes that doesn’t help me, but when the tires drop here – from lap 5 to 10, all the laps the tires were falling down – when I saw it, I said, ‘It’s okay, try to control it.’
“I was also playing around with my power map.
“But with doing things from qualifying to (sprint), we still felt much better as we were still a little tuned on the bike, controlled the bike, went into the corner, were close to the others and ready to fight.
“When I had the opportunity to overtake – it was okay to overtake Marini – it was important when you felt like you had the speed at which you had the opportunity to overtake.
The LCR Honda Rider feels most pleased with the Honda front end, adding that finding this feeling is key to the weekend.
“The front feeling is pretty good on the bike, but it’s not easy to have it all the time,” he said.
“In the final race, I know that it’s a good thing, so I try to get it as quickly as possible, but I feel like I’m missing speed when I can’t get it and can’t get it.
“It was there today in the race so you can play with the rest of the bike to get things under control.”