Today came as a rude awakening for Johann Zarco, as he continued to get to grips with the KTM. Twentieth position only tells half the story, as two crashes clearly complicated the Frenchman's work as he tried to find the right confidence. He was already aware of the long road ahead, something that has only been confirmed today.

“What can I say? It's much worse than I expected – begins Johann- I hoped to improve on my lap times but I was unable to do so. As for my confidence, I've found better bike control, but not the speed I need. I'm disappointed with today's result, a pity, I crashed twice but don't think I've hurt myself and that's important if we want to continue to understand the bike's weak points.”

Rider #5 goes into more detail...

“My main problem is still corner entry, I can't feel the tyre as I'd like to, especially in braking, we need to work on this to improve somehow. I'm sorry about the crashes, which prevented me from being quicker. After the first crash, I continued to push, because I think it's the best way to find the limit”.

Johann is not excluding anything from his analyse, not even his riding style.

“I'm still working on my riding style, perhaps it has to change in relation to the bike, I'm thinking about it and will continue to do so. In any case, what was a strong point on the Yamaha must be one on other bikes too, seeing as I followed Marc and could see how strong he is on entry, and not only because of his talent, probably greater than other riders, but also because the bike allows him to do so. We have improved the sensations, and I can ride the bike, but we're lacking the speed."

One thing that won't change is his work method.

“I haven't had to change my work method. Being in a factory team means having many people around you but the work is the same, I feel whether or not I have problems and try to explain them in detail to those around me. My work doesn't change, and a factory team has greater ability to work on the details. Espargarò? We didn't talk, we'll be able to do so at Jerez”.