Zarco can enjoy Australia MotoGP result after his KTM struggles
Johann Zarco admits he can "enjoy" his MotoGP Australian Grand Prix result more after "thinking where I came from", a reference to his miserable 13-race stint with KTM
The double Moto2 champion is replacing the injured Takaaki Nakagami on the year-old RC213V for the final races, having been dropped with immediate effect from KTM after the Misano round last month.
With limited dry running at Phillip Island, Zarco qualified 14th and fought with ex-KTM team-mate Pol Espargaro for 12th - ultimately missing out on the run to the line by just over a tenth of a second.
Zarco admits he had to "relearn" the confidence needed to push a MotoGP bike prior to the race, and says he has to be "happy" with how the weekend went.
"My first race on the Honda and it's with Pol I'm fighting," Zarco said. "But we were smiling at the end of the race, because maybe he felt I had the possibility to go faster, but he said 'no, you stay behind for at least one race'.
"[It's a] huge track, so fast. Marc [Marquez] said on Thursday you need confidence [to go fast here]. If you don't have confidence, you're almost better off not trying.
"I had to relearn all of that, [at] 300km/h (186.4mph), fighting with the guys and keeping the pace, doing 27 laps and having the confidence into the corners everywhere.
"So, good work. It's normal to be unhappy [with a weekend], but thinking from where I came from, I can enjoy this result."
- Zarco's dramatic 2019 season
- Zarco exits KTM - Timeline of a MotoGP nightmare
- Zarco joins LCR for final three races
- Crutchlow: Zarco will exceed expectations on the Honda
- Honda: Zarco must not think of replacing Lorenzo
- Zarco's second chance can prove KTM wrong
Zarco highlighted his ability to maintain a positive feeling on the bike throughout the race, but he has also pinpointed areas to work on this weekend in Malaysia.
"I could have a good fighting spirit and try my best and [I could feel] the good things on the bike - I didn't get a worse feeling.
"The feeling remained very constant from the beginning to the end of the race. Only in acceleration did I find it difficult to control the drive.
"I don't know if maybe I used [the] right tyre or not, because Marc won with the soft one. So, it means the soft was a good tyre and overall he won with 11 seconds [margin] over second.
"So, it is possible to manage, but I am still not able to. I felt things on the bike I'm going to work on to be able to control the bike better."
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez called Zarco's first race on the RC213V "acceptable", but refused to make a definitive assessment due to the weekend's weather-disrupted running.
But Marquez admits Zarco did "show something" promising after a strong run to sixth in fourth practice.
"Yeah, I mean it's difficult to say," Marquez said when asked to evaluate Zarco's performance. "Of course, we can say [he was] acceptable.
"I don't want to say one [definitive] word, because you saw the [weather this] weekend.
"I mean, wind, rain and then cold conditions. It's impossible to say.
"You need time, it's the first time that he got on the bike, [and in] not the best conditions.
"But he showed something, because in FP4 he was already there, and now in Malaysia, if we have a normal weekend you can evaluate him more."
Rossi faded in Australian GP as he was "slowest on the straight"
Marquez: Aggressive Crutchlow pass key to win Australia MotoGP race
De Vries cleared of wrongdoing in dispute over €250K loan
Nyck de Vries has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an Amsterdam court over a claim launched against him by real estate magnate Jeroen Schothorst relating to a €250,000 loan.
Horner admits Red Bull’s real RB19 will be ‘somewhat different’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the real RB19 that will appear in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain later this month will be ‘somewhat different'.
Horner hints at closer links between Mercedes and Williams F1 teams
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has hinted that there could be a closer relationship between the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams in the wake of James Vowles’s move.
Ford remains committed to WRC amid F1 return
Ford has stated that it remains committed to its programme in the World Rally Championship following confirmation of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2026.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.