Johann Zarco: “I thought he would fly around killing the competition and instead Pecco showed that he is still the rider who handles the Ducati best.”

Johann Zarco has admitted that six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has taken longer than he expected to adapt to the Ducati. Marquez remains in the thick of the title fight behind Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, both of whom are riding the GP24 bike compared to Marquez who is aboard last year’s title-winning GP23. Marquez, who took a little bit of time to fully adapt to the Ducati, has been brilliant for much of this season. But it still hasn’t resulted in a victory, which had surprised Zarco. Speaking to GPOne, Zarco said: “In truth I expected him to be even stronger, then I realised he needed time to adapt. “I thought he would fly around killing the competition and instead Pecco showed that he is still the rider who handles the Ducati best. “He does it with a very clean and precise style. Seeing that Marc has this need to adapt gives me confidence, because when I say I have to adapt to something I see that even the strongest [rider] has to it, even if he does it faster than me. “This motivates me and makes me realise that on every bike there are things to understand.”

Zarco, who left Ducati to join Honda in a bid to extend his career in MotoGP, has seen first hand how good the Desmosedici is compared to the struggling Honda.

But that hasn’t stopped the French rider from wanting to turn things around with the Japanese brand.

Honda are also going through a difficult time in WorldSBK, but Zarco, who will compete in the Suzuka 8 hours for Honda this year, remains set on staying in MotoGP for a few more seasons.

Asked if he has considered leaving for WorldSBK, Zarco said: “No, I have a lot of fun in MotoGP. The level is so high in MotoGP and it fills me with excitement to continue to grow as a rider.

“For me it remains ‘the category’ and it’s my category.”