{"id":632567,"date":"2026-04-26T19:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632567\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T19:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:04:11","slug":"zarco-top-honda-at-jerez-with-seventh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632567\/","title":{"rendered":"Zarco top Honda at Jerez with seventh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johann Zarco had a solid start to the MotoGP race at Jerez, where he was second on the grid, quickly establishing himself in the leading group and within contention for a podium. The Frenchman showed strong pace throughout to keep at the sharp end of the field, but tyre wear proved to be the limiting factor for him. At the chequered flag Zarco was seventh, scoring good points as the highest-placed Honda rider and securing his best result of 2026.<\/p>\n

Also starting well, Luca Marini found himself squeezed heading into the first corner and resulting contact removed much of the aerodynamics on the lefthand side of his Honda RC213V. Settling into a rhythm to recover the positions he lost while also working to fully understand the condition of his machine, Marini put on a respectable march forward and he closed in on the likes of Rins, Quartararo and the points. Taking 13th at the line, the #10 leaves Spain with 27 points in the World Championship standings.<\/p>\n

With a Double Long Lap Penalty looming, Joan Mir pushed from the off to open as much margin as possible before completing his penalty by lap eight. Consistent pace had the 2020 MotoGP World Champion close in on the factory Yamaha pair ahead, easily passing Rins and looking for a way past Quartararo until the final corner. 15th rewards Mir with a single point and his first Sunday race finish of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Starting from 23rd on the grid, Diogo Moreira faced a challenging comeback over the course of the 25-lap race. The Brazilian demonstrated a strong pace in the early stages, where he was able to push and make progress through the field. However, tyre degradation in the closing laps prevented him from maintaining this pace and he crossed the line in 17th position.<\/p>\n

The Honda MotoGP riders will be out again on the Jerez circuit tomorrow for a one-day test, before they head to France for the next GP, which will take place on 8-10 May.<\/p>\n

\"Johann <\/p>\n

\n Johann Zarco
\n 5<\/p>\n

CASTROL Honda LCR <\/p>\n

I gave my best to secure the best possible result, and today it was 7th. The start was tough, but I managed to defend my position and fight with my rivals. Our pace was better than I expected, honestly, it was very decent, and I\u2019m happy about that. Of course, I was aiming for the podium, but with five laps to go I felt a big drop in the rear tyre. In the end, I crossed the line in 7th, which is still a positive result. Tomorrow\u2019s test will help us improve in some areas and be better prepared for the next races.<\/p>\n

I gave my best to secure the best possible result, and today it was 7th. The start was tough, but I managed to defend my position and fight with my rivals. Our pace was better than I expected, honestly, it was very decent, and I\u2019m happy about that. Of course, I was aiming for the podium, but with five laps to go I felt a big drop in the rear tyre. In the end, I crossed the line in 7th, which is still a positive result. Tomorrow\u2019s test will help us improve in some areas and be better prepared for the next races.<\/p>\n

\"Luca <\/p>\n

\n Luca Marini
\n 10<\/p>\n

Honda HRC Castrol <\/p>\n

Unfortunately at the start of the race I had contact with some other riders and our bike\u2019s aerodynamics were damaged. Without the left side of the aero, everything was compromised \u2013 from wheelie in under acceleration to getting the bike stopped. We did what we could in this situation. Zarco showed how important Qualifying is, from second on the grid he could fight for sixth or seventh, so we need to keep working on our Friday and Saturday to improve Sunday. We keep improving and see what we can learn from the post-race test.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately at the start of the race I had contact with some other riders and our bike\u2019s aerodynamics were damaged. Without the left side of the aero, everything was compromised \u2013 from wheelie in under acceleration to getting the bike stopped. We did what we could in this situation. Zarco showed how important Qualifying is, from second on the grid he could fight for sixth or seventh, so we need to keep working on our Friday and Saturday to improve Sunday. We keep improving and see what we can learn from the post-race test.<\/p>\n

\"Joan <\/p>\n

\n Joan Mir
\n 36<\/p>\n

Honda HRC Castrol <\/p>\n

Considering the Double Long Lap Penalty, the result is about as good as we could have hoped for. Our main objective was to finish the race because the conditions, the grip and everything were very critical today and with the weather we didn\u2019t have the perfect package. Not the weekend or the result we aimed for, but some good information and at least we made some good overtakes during the comeback at the end. Now a day of testing with a few things to work on.<\/p>\n

Considering the Double Long Lap Penalty, the result is about as good as we could have hoped for. Our main objective was to finish the race because the conditions, the grip and everything were very critical today and with the weather we didn\u2019t have the perfect package. Not the weekend or the result we aimed for, but some good information and at least we made some good overtakes during the comeback at the end. Now a day of testing with a few things to work on.<\/p>\n

\"Diogo <\/p>\n

\n Diogo Moreira
\n 11<\/p>\n

Pro Honda LCR <\/p>\n

We know it\u2019s difficult to overtake in MotoGP, and even more so at this track. The race wasn\u2019t bad, I was there, following the factory Hondas. With 10 laps to go, I started to struggle with the tyre wear. Tomorrow it will be important to try some different setup options and see where we can improve.<\/p>\n

We know it\u2019s difficult to overtake in MotoGP, and even more so at this track. The race wasn\u2019t bad, I was there, following the factory Hondas. With 10 laps to go, I started to struggle with the tyre wear. Tomorrow it will be important to try some different setup options and see where we can improve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johann Zarco had a solid start to the MotoGP race at Jerez, where he was second on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-632567","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-motor","11":"tag-motor-sports","12":"tag-motosport","13":"tag-motosports","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632567","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=632567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}