Johann Zarco reveals he “began to believe” he could win his home MotoGP race after seeing Jack Miller crash out of the rain-affected Le Mans.
Zarco stunned his home crowd by taking victory by almost 20 seconds after a gamble on wet tyres paid off.
The French rider said it was “magic” to win his home race and admitted he knew it was all about the strategy.
“I feel very special and proud, because I love motorcycle history and to write this line as a French rider winning the French GP, it’s just magic,” said Zarco via Crash.net.
“I always push myself, hoping that I can win races or be on the podium. But today was also about making this choice for the rain tyres.”
After the initial start was halted due to all riders pitting for their wet bikes, 13 riders then reversed their decision and returned for dry machines on the sighting lap for the restart.
“When I saw the others going with the slicks, I knew it was going to rain,” said the race winner.
“So I tried to save those wet tyres because the track was kind of dry at the beginning. But with raindrops and the other guys on slicks I knew that things would happen for me.”
Johann Zarco: ‘When Miller crashed I began to believe’ in Le Mans victory
The French rider admitted the difficult conditions made for a tentative start to the race as he refused to activate his start device.
This resulted in him being involved in a Turn 2 incident which saw Joan Mir crash out, with Zarco himself running through the gravel.
“I lost a lot of time on my start, because I didn’t want to use any start device,” Zarco said.
“I didn’t know how to brake on the first corner, so I say I prefer be safe for the first corners, but I’ve lost so much time on the start.
“And trying to go on the outside in the first chicane, things can happen in the middle. Mir picked up the bike and I hit him a lot. I have even lost my left end from the handlebar and I went straight into the gravel.
“But it was good enough to ride, and from that moment I said, ‘well, you have lost a lot. Now just wait and see’. That was the situation in the first laps.”
The adverse weather meant all of the riders returned to the pitlane for their wet bikes, allowing Zarco to come through into the race lead.
However, the Frenchman only believed he would win the race after seeing Miller crash out on his Pramac Yamaha.
“I knew Jack Miller would be strong in these conditions… and when Jack crashed I began to believe that I can win the race,” Zarco revealed.
“I’ve been scared when Marc [Marquez] switched to the rain tyres because at the beginning he went faster than me.
“But I think he also reached the limit of the rain tyres and he could not push much more and my gap was big enough to control.”
‘The crowd is incredible’ – Johann Zarco on French GP celebrations
Zarco delighted the record crowd at Le Mans by taking an unexpected victory.
He admitted that he just had to bide his time to ensure he would take his second win in the premier class.
“Just fantastic. Sometimes you go to catch your victory. Today I had to wait for the laps to pass by to get the victory. So that’s very special.”
Zarco celebrated with his signature backflip on the main straight after the race, as his LCR Honda team and his parents celebrated in the pit lane.
“My mum has never been to a grand prix in my 17 years of racing,” Zarco revealed.
“I said, ‘I think it would be nice for you to come and see the French GP because the crowd is just incredible.
“I was already so happy that they have seen the French crowd and today we have the cherry on the cake.”
