Johann Zarco, who as of yesterday had anticipated that he could appeal in the event of a penalty, finally ended this long day with a smile on his face. Unhappy with the sanction imposed on him following the crash of the Austrian Grand Prix, he nevertheless understood that it was preferable for him to accept this conclusion in order to turn the page faster and more calmly. On Sunday, he will therefore start the race from the pitlane, but he is already trying to cling to the parameters that could help him to erase this major disadvantage by turning in particular to rainy weather forecasts.
Before that, however, he will have to make sure he is in good condition, because his fracture of the right scaphoid, operated on Wednesday only, leaves a doubt on its ability to go to the end of this weekend, although shortened. Doctors have returned a favorable verdict which now leaves him free to assess his feelings on the track on Saturday and try to get back into the mix.
“About my day, the positive thing is that I am declared fit to drive tomorrow and that is very important”, the Avintia pilot commented when he presented himself to the media this Friday evening, greatly delayed by his participation in the Safety Commission. “It’s true that my wrist is improving very quickly, I’m happy about that. So it’s a good opportunity to ride tomorrow, to get some sensations. I think I’ll be in pain, and that’s normal and I I’ll see how to control this and resist it. Anyway, it’s good to try. “
“I am therefore happy with this medical check-up, but not happy with my penalty”, he continued. “I thought I would appeal to the FIM, but it’s a bit complicated and that would postpone the problem. If ever my appeal was not accepted, the situation would not be good, so I would rather swallow this penalty, leave the pitlane this weekend and like that we end this story. It’s not a funny story, so it is better to do it like that and I will push myself to have the best possible race in Misano, where I will be back 100%. My goal is always to stay with Ducati and get the best bike possible. The plan was not to play in the championship this season, that’s why leaving the pitlane this weekend. t is not the end of the world but a good way to end this story. “
Why did you go to the Safety Commission, when it’s not in your habits?
It had been a long time since I had been to the Safety Commission and it lasted a long time because we also talked about tires. The reason is that there was a terrible crash on Sunday, a lot has been said in almost a week. This is why it was interesting to go there in case we talk about it, so that we exchange between pilots on what we think. Carmelo [Ezpeleta] also told me that it would be better, that it would be clearer. But there were different topics covered today.
I left because we had been there for an hour already and I knew I still had interviews to do. We talked about the safety of the Spielberg track, but not who fell, how, by what fault… We talked about the accident, but just to talk about a change of the track.
How was this penalty announced to you?
They announced it to me personally. The way they told me, it didn’t make sense for me to go and give my version. They told me ‘we see this and we penalize you’. I asked why I had come to explain my point of view, but it was just to be correct with the rules.
Is the plan on Sunday going to be to just pay your penalty and then rest your wrist in sight of Misano?
We talked a lot about what we should do. Clearly, if I hadn’t been able to be fit to ride this weekend, I think I should have appealed, because otherwise being in good shape in Misano but starting there from the pitlane would have been a big problem. Here it is always a problem, because maybe I will feel good and be ready to run, but there is still a lot of doubts. I’m happy to race tomorrow and I think I can be pretty fast, but for 28 laps it’s a problem.
For my honor and my ego, I would love to fight this penalty, but I can put the ego aside and tell myself it’s better to take it and end the story. And then, I might not be in the best of my shape, but I don’t know how it’s going to turn out: if it rains, maybe it could be very interesting, because I think I could do the whole thing. run and be strong enough. So I hope we have some rain and that it can create some surprises.
For my honor and my ego, I would love to fight this penalty, but I can put the ego aside and tell myself it’s better to take it and end the story.
Johann Zarco
How does it feel to hit the track tomorrow?
I looked at the others on the track and it’s not often that you look at the drivers of your own category on the track when not driving. It’s always interesting and it gives a lot of detail. I have already spoken with the technicians. If it’s okay in terms of pain, we already have plans on things to try, because we have all the references from last week. So we know that if I feel good I can be pretty fast.
As far as I’m concerned, I have already had this experience in Australia [en 2008] with my crash, and I remember that on the next track, in Malaysia, I had strange sensations in the first corner, but then we are concentrated, the bike is very fast and so you have to be focused on the present moment . I think tomorrow I’ll be in that state of mind if my wrist is okay. The fall will be quickly erased from my mind.
How was the physical test that you had to pass today?
When they test for the scaphoid, they mainly check the strength we have in the hand and it’s pretty good. After that I had to do push-ups and it was a bit more difficult. Like I told them, it hurts but I have control of the body, so that’s why they declared me fit but if it ever gets worse they want me to stop. And I’m not crazy – although most people think so! – then I’ll see. It will be my first experience on the bike anyway, being injured. I have managed to keep my body in good shape for all these years.
Do you have confidence in the work of the commissioners or is there something that could be changed in the panel?
What they are doing is not easy, but no, I do not trust the commissioners. I answer the question: no. I don’t think they’re the right people in the right place. We should have other people.
I do not trust the commissioners. I don’t think they’re the right people in the right place.
Johann Zarco
Franco and you have you spoken?
We met at the Safety Commission, but we did not talk about the accident any more. We just talked about how we felt physically. After the fall, one would have thought that he would have had less chance than me to get back on the bike, because he was the one who was on the ground when I got up quickly, but in the end it was me who am injured and he was able to ride today. But he hurts, he showed me that he is blue in many places of the body. We just talked about it. By message we have already said that it was a bad time and that we want to erase it from our minds.
Do you know in the end why you were punished?
I was punished because our paths crossed, with Morbidelli. And they said ‘from what we see, you cut Morbidelli’s path’. So I said it was no use for me to speak to explain, but they said they were sticking to what they saw. I just put on fifth and passed, but maybe getting there in that breakout with that line was too optimistic.
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