Johann Zarco

Johann Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from France, best known for winning the 2015 and 2016 Moto2 World Championships.[2]

Johann Zarco
Zarco at the 2017 French Grand Prix
Nationality	French
Born	(1990-07-16) 16 July 1990 Cannes, France
Current team	Avintia Racing[1]
Bike number	5
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2017– Manufacturers Yamaha, KTM, Honda, Ducati Championships 0 2019 championship position 18th (30 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 56 0 7 6 4 390 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2012–2016 Manufacturers Motobi, Suter, Caterham Suter, Kalex Championships 2 (2015, 2016) 2016 championship position 1st (276 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 88 15 30 15 7 1010 125cc World Championship Active years 2009–2011 Manufacturers Aprilia, Derbi Championships 0 2011 championship position 2nd (262 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 50 1 11 4 5 371.5

Following a difficult 2019 season, for 2020 Zarco is contracted to ride in MotoGP with Avintia Ducati.[3]

From 2017 he was a member of the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP satellite team, and in early 2018 it was announced that he would ride for the factory KTM MotoGP team from 2019.[4]

In August 2019, Zarco announced he would not ride for KTM in 2020, the second-year of his contract. The KTM team then announced in September 2019 he would not ride in the remaining six 2019 events, with test rider Mika Kallio taking his place.[5]

Zarco was offered a Honda for the last three races of the 2019 season. Riding for Honda effectively removed the possibility of becoming a Yamaha factory test rider for 2020.[6][7]

With 16 Grands Prix victories, Zarco is also the most successful French rider in Grand Prix racing.[8]

Career

Early career

Born in Cannes, Zarco progressed up the motorcycling ladder and moved into minimoto championships in 2004, mainly based in Italy. In 2005, Zarco finished as runner-up in the Senior Mini European Championship and in 2006, he was runner-up in the European Open Championship. He also competed in the Italian 125cc championship, where he finished in twelfth place. Zarco took part in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2007,[9] and won the championship at Estoril, after winning three races.[10] He added a fourth win at the final race in Valencia. These performances enabled Zarco to become part of the Red Bull MotoGP Academy scheme along with Cameron Beaubier, Jonas Folger and Danny Kent.[11] This reduced his racing in 2008, making a sporadic appearance in the Italian championship with Team Gabrielli.

125cc World Championship

Zarco made his Grand Prix début with the WTR San Marino Team, in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. He finished the race in the points in 15th, although the rain-shortened race meant that Zarco gained just half a point.[12] He took seven further points-scoring finishes, as he finished 20th in the championship. Zarco's best result of the season was a sixth-place finish at Mugello.

Zarco remained with WTR for the 2010 season.[13] Zarco started the season with a consistent run of points-scoring finishes, finishing each of the first eight races in the points. At the Czech Grand Prix, Zarco recorded the first fastest lap of his career, having pitted for slick tyres as the track's conditions became better for them to be run. He ultimately finished eleventh in the championship, despite retiring from the final three races.

For 2011 he signed with Ajo Motorsport. At the second race, the Spanish Grand Prix, he gained his first podium finish by finishing third.

Moto2 World Championship

Zarco moved up to the Moto2 class with the JiR team, aboard Motobi bikes in 2012. He finished the season 10th in the standings with 95 points and was easily the highest placed rookie that year. In 2013, he moved to the Ioda Project Racing Team aboard a Suter, he improved on his rookie season by finishing on the podium twice and ended 9th on the standings with 141 points. For 2014, he joined the new Caterham Moto Racing team. He impressed on what many considered to be an inferior bike compared to the mainly dominant Kalex bikes. He managed to earn 4 podium finishes, as well as 1 pole position, earning him 6th in the standings with 146 points. In 2015, Zarco moved to the debuting Ajo Motorsport team, who he raced with in the 125cc class. Zarco dominated the field and won his first Moto2 title,[2] with 8 wins, 14 podiums, 7 poles and a record points haul of 352. He remained with the team for 2016 and successfully defended his Moto2 title, becoming the first rider in the Moto2 era to win 2 intermediate titles, with 7 wins, 10 podiums, 7 poles and 276 points. Zarco became a popular figure with the fans with his spectacular backflip celebrations when he won a race.

MotoGP World Championship

For 2017, Zarco moved up to the premier class with the Tech 3 Yamaha team. On his MotoGP debut at Qatar, Zarco shocked the grid by taking the lead on the first lap and building a 2-second lead, until he crashed out at turn 2 on lap 6. He scored his first MotoGP podium, a 2nd place, at Le Mans. He got his first pole position at the Assen. In the race he touched with Rossi and dropped to 4th, and eventually finished in 14th place. He got podium finishes in Sepang, Malaysia and Valencia, Spain, where he finished in 3rd and 2nd respectively.

He received the Rookie of the Year Award for 2017 and finished the season in 6th, the highest placing independent rider.[14]

Following a difficult 2019 season when he rode a works KTM for only the first half before the factory pulled him out,[3] Zarco was offered a Honda for the last three races of the 2019 season due to regular rider Takaaki Nakagami electing to have surgery with an expected long recuperation period. He finished the first event in 13th place, and was knocked off by Joan Mir nearing the end of the second event when in 8th place.[15][16] Zarco fell during his third race on the Honda when in 10th position at Valencia, Spain, being hit when walking away by a following machine, without serious injury.[17]

Career statistics

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Races by year

(key)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos	Pts
2007	ESP 3	ITA 1	GBR 2	NED 13	GER 2	CZE 1	VAL 1	1st	134

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Number	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
2009	125cc	Aprilia	WTR San Marino Team	14	16	0	0	0	0	32.5	20th	–
2010	125cc	Aprilia	WTR San Marino Team	14	17	0	0	0	1	77	11th	–
2011	125cc	Derbi	Avant-AirAsia-Ajo	5	17	1	11	4	4	262	2nd	–
2012	Moto2	Motobi	JiR Moto2	5	17	0	0	0	0	95	10th	–
2013	Moto2	Suter	Came IodaRacing Project	5	17	0	2	0	2	141	9th	–
2014	Moto2	Caterham Suter	AirAsia Caterham	5	18	0	4	1	0	146	6th	–
2015	Moto2	Kalex	Ajo Motorsport	5	18	8	14	7	1	352	1st	1
2016	Moto2	Kalex	Ajo Motorsport	5	18	7	10	7	4	276	1st	1
2017	MotoGP	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	5	18	0	3	2	4	174	6th	–
2018	MotoGP	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	5	18	0	3	2	0	158	6th	–
2019	MotoGP	KTM	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	5	13	0	0	0	0	30	18th	–
		Honda	LCR Honda	5	3	0	0	0	0
2020	MotoGP	Ducati	Hublot Reale Avintia	5	4	0	1	1	0	28*	10th*	–
Total					193	16	48	24	16	1771.5		2

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125cc	2009–2011	2009 Qatar	2011 Spain	2011 Japan	50	1	11	4	5	371.5	0
Moto2	2012–2016	2012 Qatar	2013 Italy	2015 Argentina	88	15	30	15	7	1010	2
MotoGP	2017–present	2017 Qatar	2017 France		55	0	7	5	4	390	0
Total	2009–Present				193	16	48	24	16	1771.5	2

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pos	Pts
2009	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 15	JPN Ret	SPA 13	FRA Ret	ITA 6	CAT 13	NED 21	GER 23	GBR 13	CZE 11	IND 23	RSM 16	POR 9	AUS 16	MAL Ret	VAL 15				20th	32.5
2010	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 12	SPA 7	FRA 11	ITA 9	GBR 8	NED 12	CAT 8	GER 6	CZE 19	IND 13	RSM 12	ARA 12	JPN 10	MAL 11	AUS Ret	POR Ret	VAL Ret			11th	77
2011	125cc	Derbi	QAT 6	SPA 3	POR 3	FRA 5	CAT 6	GBR 2	NED 5	ITA 2	GER 2	CZE 2	IND 5	RSM 2	ARA 2	JPN 1	AUS 3	MAL 3	VAL Ret			2nd	262
2012	Moto2	Motobi	QAT 12	SPA 10	POR 4	FRA Ret	CAT 11	GBR Ret	NED 8	GER 11	ITA 10	IND 12	CZE 7	RSM 10	ARA 6	JPN 8	MAL Ret	AUS 5	VAL Ret			10th	95
2013	Moto2	Suter	QAT 12	AME 6	SPA 12	FRA 5	ITA 3	CAT 7	NED 6	GER 11	IND 8	CZE 5	GBR 7	RSM 7	ARA 7	MAL 6	AUS Ret	JPN Ret	VAL 3			9th	141
2014	Moto2	Caterham Suter	QAT 23	AME Ret	ARG 18	SPA 8	FRA Ret	ITA 7	CAT 3	NED 4	GER Ret	IND 10	CZE 9	GBR 4	RSM 3	ARA 3	JPN 4	AUS Ret	MAL 4	VAL 3		6th	146
2015	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 8	AME 2	ARG 1	SPA 2	FRA 3	ITA 2	CAT 1	NED 1	GER 2	IND 2	CZE 1	GBR 1	RSM 1	ARA 6	JPN 1	AUS 7	MAL 1	VAL 7		1st	352
2016	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 12	ARG 1	AME 3	SPA 5	FRA 24	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GER 1	AUT 1	CZE 11	GBR 22	RSM 4	ARA 8	JPN 2	AUS 12	MAL 1	VAL 1		1st	276
2017	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT Ret	ARG 5	AME 5	SPA 4	FRA 2	ITA 7	CAT 5	NED 14	GER 9	CZE 12	AUT 5	GBR 6	RSM 15	ARA 9	JPN 8	AUS 4	MAL 3	VAL 2		6th	174
2018	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 8	ARG 2	AME 6	SPA 2	FRA Ret	ITA 10	CAT 7	NED 8	GER 9	CZE 7	AUT 9	GBR C	RSM 10	ARA 14	THA 5	JPN 6	AUS Ret	MAL 3	VAL 7	6th	158
2019	MotoGP	KTM	QAT 15	ARG 15	AME 13	SPA 14	FRA 13	ITA 17	CAT 10	NED Ret	GER Ret	CZE 14	AUT 12	GBR Ret	RSM 11	ARA	THA	JPN				18th	30
		Honda																	AUS 13	MAL Ret	VAL Ret
2020	MotoGP	Ducati	SPA 11	ANC 9	CZE 3	AUT Ret	STY	RSM	EMI	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	POR						10th*	28*

^* Season still in progress.

References

1. Zarco officially confirmed with Avintia Ducati for MotoGP 2020 "Frenchman Johann Zarco has been officially confirmed in the Reale Avintia Ducati MotoGP team for MotoGP 2020". bikesportnews, 9 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019
2. "Triumphant Johann Zarco lifts Moto2 world title". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
3. Johann Zarco's place at the Avintia Ducati squad for the 2020 MotoGP season has been officially confirmed after he revealed last week that the deal was signed Autosport, 9 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019
4. Johann Zarco signs KTM MotoGP deal for 2019 Autosport, 3 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018
5. Zarco axed for 'constant bad words in press, rider safety', says KTM Visor Down, 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019
6. Zarco out to discover Marquez's Honda MotoGP advantage Autosport.com, 24 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019
7. Honda extends Nakagami deal, confirms early end to campaign motorsport.com, 15 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019
8. "Pedrosa gagne une course, Rossi des points et Zarco un titre" [Pedrosa wins the race, points to Rossi and Zarco the title]. Libération (in French). SARL Libération. Agence France-Presse. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015. A cette occasion, avec huit succès dans toute sa carrière, il efface des tablettes de la vitesse française ses glorieux aînés, Christian Sarron, Olivier Jacque et Arnaud Vincent, tous trois champions du monde également dans les années 80 et 2000. [On this occasion, with eight wins in his career, he moves ahead of the previous tallies of the French former riders, Christian Sarron, Olivier Jacque and Arnaud Vincent, all three world champions between 1980 and 2000.]
9. "Portrait – Johann Zarco". Red Bull MotoGP Rookie Cup. Red Bull. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
10. "Zarco takes win and championship!". Red Bull MotoGP Rookie Cup. Red Bull. 15 September 2007. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
11. "Red Bull MotoGP Academy 2008 line-up announced". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
12. "Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar: 125cc Race Classification" (PDF). motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
13. "WTR San Marino Team presents its 2010 line-up". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
14. "Goodbye 2017: FIM Awards Ceremony closes the MotoGP season". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
15. Mir deems Zarco crash penalty ‘unfair’ bikesportnews.com, 4 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019
16. Joan Mir penalised for Johann Zarco collision 'because I am a rookie' visordown.com, 4 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019
17. Zarco thought he'd broken ankle when hit by Lecuona's crashing bike Autosport, 18 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.

External links

• Profile on motogp.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Inaugural champion	Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion 2007	Succeeded by J. D. Beach