Johann Zarco says he utilised Pramac Racing team-mate Jorge Martin as a “target” in order to “skip away” from Luca Marini to secure third in the Italian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman was left with work to do after qualifying only ninth at Mugello after struggling slightly during qualifying, though the decision to opt for the more durable medium rear tyre began to pay dividends in the closing stages of the encounter as he made his way through towards the front.
Zarco enjoyed a spirited battle with a fading Marini before finally snatching away the final rostrum placing just half-a-dozen laps from the end, though in doing began to struggle with excessive sliding and found it tough to pull away from the VR46 pilot.
The two-time Moto2 world champion revealed that he used his team-mate Martin – who was struggling even more in the closing stanza due to choosing the softer compound rear rubber for the race – as a “target” to try and escape the clutches of Marini, his strategy eventually paying off as he took the chequered flag 2.6 seconds clear of the Italian.
“It’s been an awesome weekend, it was nice to fight for the podium in the sprint race and then I knew for the long race with the medium rear tyre I could be a bit more competitive, as looking in the practices I was fast with the medium rear,” explained Zarco.
“I was impressed by the pace of (Luca) Marini and Alex Marquez as I could not catch them very easily or fight with them, so I had to wait a bit to get the advantage.
“I also knew that Jorge (Martin) had the soft rear and he was not dropping off the pace much so four laps from the end I did my best to catch him also, but I was sliding a lot so I used him as a target to skip away from Marini and secure third place.
“It’s tough because I’m usually strong in acceleration but when the tyre drops you try to get good exits but you spend a lot of energy on the bike (due to controlling wheelspin) so I tried to keep some energy for the final couple laps.
“Marini stayed behind me for at least a couple laps but then I found some advantage that gave me some confidence to stay third.
Zarco added that he felt the battle could well be for second in this weekend’s German GP at the Sachsenring due to Marc Marquez being fit enough to battle, the six-time premier class champion likely to be in the mix despite his tricky Honda due to his past dominance at the venue – the Spaniard having won every MotoGP race he has started at the circuit.
“Last year it was a fantastic experience to be second (at the Sachsenring), I guess Marc Marquez will be the one fighting for the victory at the Sachsenring because since he’s come back he’s always fast on each track, so I think there he’ll be even stronger,” continued Zarco.
“There is some space on the podium to fight with him, so I hope to have this good feeling and keep pushing with the confidence we are finding.”
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