Johann Zarco suffered his second technical retirement in as many MotoGP weekends as engine troubles robbed him of a strong result at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Starting eighth on the grid, the LCR rider made a quick start to demote VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, before settling into a rhythm behind the Tech3 KTM of Enea Bastianini.
He looked set to finish as the top Honda at Sepang, but lost pace with three laps remaining before returning to the pits to retire.
While uncertain about the exact nature of the issue, Zarco revealed he had no option but to cut short his day, fearing he could damage his engine if he had continued.
“I got a technical problem. Clearly not the same thing as Philip Island. Clearly a totally different thing,” he said, referring to his early exit from the Australian GP Sprint after he had qualified third.
“I didn’t have power anymore. So I had to stop because it made no sense to finish the race. I was also wondering if maybe I have no power anymore, I don’t want to break the engine.
“I don’t know if it’s mechanical or electronic, but something went wrong.
“For me, it’s not a drama to not finish a race on a technical problem because with this special year [before new regulations], I’m happier with the performance we can have on track, in qualifying and even in the race. The final result for me doesn’t make a big difference.”
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Despite failing to score in both Australia and Malaysia due to factors outside his control, Zarco was positive about his performance, saying he tried his best to beat Bastianini to sixth place.
“I’m happy with the way I could manage this race,” he said.
“I tried to be aggressive at the beginning. It was nice to try to overtake and fight a bit. It’s good to feel alive during a race.
“I knew that Enea was strong and was going to be strong. So, we lost a big gap with the top 5. I believed that maybe we could catch them if I stayed with Enea, and we went quite fast. “Not enough to catch the top guys, but enough to make a big gap with the ones behind. Only Marini was staying there [behind me], but then Marini also began to lose a bit.
“And me, I could not stay with Enea. So I said, three laps to go, I hoped to still handle this tyre and finish the race. But then I got a technical problem.”
Sunday’s full-distance contest marked one of the hottest MotoGP races of the year, with the temperature soaring past 30C at Sepang.
“It went pretty well. By following Enea, I was so happy to keep control. My heart rate was not going crazy. I really got almost perfect control for this race,” Zarco said, before explaining how the heat impacted him physically.
“There was a bit of pain on my forearm, maybe because of the hard braking. But this is part of our game. We always suffer a bit physically. But here with the heat, I did the race better than what I could expect after Saturday.
“After the sprint, I thought the 20 laps would be really tricky. Until lap 17, it was still good.”
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