Johann Zarco, the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid, isn\u2019t ruling out extending his premier-class career beyond 2027.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman is among just four confirmed riders for the debut year of the new 850cc machines, when he\u2019s hoping to use his experience to capitalise on \u2018random opportunities\u2019<\/a> thrown up by the new bikes and tyres.<\/p>\n The 35-year-old expected his 2024 Ducati-to-LCR Honda<\/a> move to be his last MotoGP<\/a> contract, but was rejuvenated by the new challenge.<\/p>\n The top RCV rider for the past two seasons, Zarco also took an emotional home victory at Le Mans, plus a dry podium at Silverstone this year, and defended Honda\u2019s Suzuka 8 Hours crown.<\/p>\n That prompted the new two-year HRC extension, which Zarco currently expects to be his last in the premier class: \u201cIn my mind, yes… At the moment!<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cBut when I signed in 2023, I thought that 2025 would be my last season. Then I got this second breath that gave me the energy to say, \u2018Why not two more years?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSo maybe now I will have another breath, a third one! You never know.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s a very technical sport, and experience and small details can make the difference. I still feel that I can grow up in this.\u201d<\/p>\n Although remaining at LCR, the main \u2018upgrade\u2019 in Zarco\u2019s future contract is access to new parts at the same time as the official HRC team.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is negotiated with the Japanese is to try to get the bike at the same level as the factory riders at the same time all the year,\u201d Zarco confirmed.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cBut I accept also that if it moves a bit quicker for the factory team, I will adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n Zarco finished twelfth in this year\u2019s world championship, six points ahead of HRC\u2019s Luca Marini.<\/p>\n Joan Mir, the other Honda rider to stand on the podium, was 15th overall.<\/p>\n Zarco will have a new team-mate in 2026 with reigning Moto2 champion Diogo Moreira replacing Somkiat Chantra.<\/p>\n Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johann Zarco, the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid, isn\u2019t ruling out extending his premier-class career beyond 2027.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,914,15612,15613,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-331366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-honda","11":"tag-johann-zarco","12":"tag-lcr-honda","13":"tag-motor","14":"tag-motor-sports","15":"tag-motosport","16":"tag-motosports","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}