Johann Zarco says he "understands" the criticism aimed at him by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer following another sub-par MotoGP weekend at Jerez.
The double Moto2 champion joined KTM from Tech3 for 2019, but has struggled to match team-mate Pol Esparagaro so far, scoring just seven points to the Spaniard’s 21.
MotoGP rookie Miguel Oliveria, who competes for KTM satillite team Tech3, has matched Zarco's points tally but currently lies a place higher in the riders championship thanks to a superior best finishing position of 11th in Argentina.
Peirer labelled Zarco's performances so far in '19 as "unacceptable", and that his issues were "psychological in nature", hinting at the time Zarco may have made his unhappiness with the RC16 felt internally with the team.
Speaking in the pre-event press conference at Le Mans, Zarco confirmed that he had criticised the bike following the pair of crashes he suffered during Friday practice at Jerez, and that this had led in part to Pierer's outburst.
"I was a bit on fire after the crash, and I didn’t say nice things about the bike" said Zarco.
"I realise I should just accept the performance of the bike at the moment and I lost control in that moment, so when the media came in and tried to question him about this he had to answer.
"Its his money that goes into this project, and he’s quite a strong character so if you ask him a question, he will answer honestly.
"We know we have to be passionate to develop the project, and we know it will take time but sometimes in the moment we can sometimes lose control, so I wasn’t sad after his comments because I understood and now things are going much better."
KTM and Zarco – who was on pole for his home race 12 months ago aboard the Yamaha – tested at Le Mans prior to the Jerez race.
Discussion about this post