"The thing I learn is that I need to improve the start, it's gonna be a huge help for the next races," Zarco said. However - in a year that saw the total number of MotoGP accidents (220) at its lowest level since 2015 - Zarco's tally of 17 was well below the 23 falls recorded by Marquez last season and peak of 27 for the reigning world champion in 2017. Valentino Rossi: Maybe I could have won, we'll never know... Maverick Vinales: 'Winning to disaster, my head is crazy', Chain reaction takes Dovizioso out of MotoGP title lead, Daniel Ricciardo says F1 Russian GP penalty “lit a fire under my bum”. Pierre Gasly: Best driver of the 2020 F1 season? While MotoGP and Moto2 both saw fewer accidents this season, the Moto3 class increased from 356 to 404, its highest level since 2016. © 2016 Dorna Sports SL. “These three races on the Honda have really taken away some doubts, which could be because of the lack of results. confirmed that the French rider will be on a Ducati in 2020, on Monday. The Esponsorama Racing boss confirms the Frenchman is heading to another Ducati team, with a Moto2™ rider "99%" taking Zarco’s place. Johann Zarco says he was 'right to have doubts' about the Avintia Ducati MotoGP squad at the end of 2019, after scoring pole and a third-place in the Czech Grand Prix. It gave me a boost of confidence! The Turn 4 hairpin at Phillip Island also gave trackside marshals little time to rest with 27 accidents. The total or partial reproduction of text, photographs or illustrations is not permitted in any form. Zarco, Lowes and Booth-Amos top fallers list in the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 respectively this season; overall accident numbers at their lowest since 2013; Le Mans was most treacherous circuit this season, Aragon the safest…. F1 Driver Ratings – who starred and who flopped at the 2020 Russian GP? When rumours of Zarco's move to Avintia emerged during the Valencia GP weekend last year, he rejected them and said he would rather return to Moto2 than go to an outfit he considered not to be "a top team". Johann Zarco took over from Marc Marquez as MotoGP's most frequent faller during the 2019 season, official statistics show.The Frenchman may … You told Moto Journal that you were speaking with Luigi Dall’Igna, how did he convince you to take the leap? Verstappen ‘extracted every ounce of performance’ in F1 Russian GP – Horner, F1 video: Why Sebastian Vettel is perfect for Aston Martin. Likewise, Zarco was only joint sixth in terms of most falls in all grand prix classes, with Moto3 rider Tom Booth-Amos heading the combined list with 22 accidents this season (scroll down for the full table). The 'safest' circuit to ride at this season was Aragon, with just 15 accidents. Track conditions play a major part when it comes to falls and it's no surprise that both the French and Australian Grands Prix were blighted by bad weather. Firstly, after the crash in Valencia, how is your ankle? Zarco fell 13 times during 13 events on the RC16 then - after sitting out three rounds - had four more accidents (three at Sepang, including being clipped by Mir) while substituting for Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda. Yamaha Sepang Racing: 'MotoGP star, Malaysian and 8 Hour specialist', Check out the Crash MotoGP YouTube channel - CLICK HERE, Catalunya MotoGP: Michelin: 'Not easy to guess the weather...', Jack Miller: 'Close but no cigar' in Catalunya MotoGP, Morbidelli 'angry, this is positive', 'Rossi fastest today'. The most dangerous corner of the season was Turn 3 (the first chicane) at Le Mans, which produced 32 falls. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Yamaha rider was next best after Dovizioso with six falls this season, despite being taken out by another competitor three times (Argentina, Le Mans and Catalunya). But eight was still double the falls for Andrea Dovizioso, the Ducati rider having the least accidents of any full-time MotoGP rider this season with just four tumbles over the 19-rounds. I know it’s a good bike. The most treacherous round of the 2019 season was the French Grand Prix at Le Mans with 90 accidents, followed by Catalunya and Phillip Island on 73. Who can stop Lewis Hamilton's latest F1 title charge. Support for this video player will be discontinued soon. The MotoGP calendar consisted of 18 events from 2010-2017, rising to 19 last year (although the Silverstone races were cancelled). Nonetheless, in total there were 971 accidents across all three classes (220 for MotoGP, 347 Moto2, 404 Moto3) marking the least number of total accidents since 2013 and well below the peak of 1126 in 2017. The Frenchman may have requested an early exit from his KTM contract but he certainly couldn't be accused of not pushing the limits. "But some laps I was feeling good and catching the guys a lot into the corner, on the brake, and then feeling comfortable in the exit. Speaking via telephone to motogp.com, the two-time Moto2™ World Champion gives insight to the decision. “Yes, they should be better… after a still very difficult year. "I was right to have doubts about the team last year because I was struggling a lot during the season and I didn't want to struggle even more and they were not having high results," Zarco explained. The double Moto2 champion was offered a lifeline by Ducati at the end of last year to join Avintia, after he was dropped by KTM after Misano following his request to have his two-year deal terminated early amidst a miserable campaign. Also brought down in Catalunya was Maverick Vinales. Johann Zarco took over from Marc Marquez as MotoGP's most frequent faller during the 2019 season, official statistics show. 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"It was not bad work from the [Avintia] mechanics in the past that was missing [the team] the results, it was just that they were always very limited in budget and not having the best parts to compete. Zarco took the team's first pole on Saturday at Brno by over three tenths, before fending off Suzuki's Alex Rins on the last lap to score its first podium and his first since Malaysia 2018. It is precisely this stability, both in the work and in the technique, that will allow me to focus more on riding and find feelings of the top riders.”. Second to Zarco on this year's MotoGP tally was Jack Miller with 15 spills, although that's two less than in 2018 and ten below his 2016 campaign. "I cannot say I learnt new things, but I confirmed again the things I have to apply perfectly on the bike to then be even stronger and control even better the race. That includes being caught up in the multi-rider incident triggered by Jorge Lorenzo in Catalunya and hitting Fabio Quartararo's fallen bike at turn one of the British MotoGP. Oct 11, 2019, 10:29 AM Johann Zarco is set to replace Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda for the last three rounds of the 2019 MotoGP season, Motorsport.com has learned. But during the weekend, the winds changed and a lot of things were turned upside down. They told me that the Avintia team was going to completely change their status. Nonetheless, the 90 crashes at Le Mans this year is below last year's top three of Valencia (155), Le Mans (109) and Catalunya (100). Then they let me go for the benefit of Kallio… in the end, it was a bad thing for a positive outcome, since in the wake, the opportunity came along for me to ride the Honda. Just one less than Booth-Amos on the combined fallers list was fellow Moto3 rookie Can Oncu, on 21, with Sam Lowes (20) falling more times than any other Moto2 rider in the debut Triumph season. I could see that Jorge was no longer in sync, so even though I didn’t know what his future was going to be, I set out to play this card. Testing accidents are also not on the list. MotoGP.com, which compiles the statistics annually, defines a 'fall' or 'crash' as the bike 'physically touching the ground and remaining on the ground'. Anyway, I am very happy with the reception to this announcement […] When I decided to leave the KTM project in August, I had no Plan B. Johann Zarco will try out his new machine – the GP19 – at the upcoming Sepang Test on the 7th, 8th and 9th of February. For now, it is better to set more reasonable goals, then aim for podiums or victories”. And all weekend it's good satisfaction because a mechanic or a technician has a big passion, when his rider is doing well, all the team is even stronger.". His best remains 11 falls during 2014. With Jorge Lorenzo gone, the MotoGP market for 2020 has had a sudden flashback.Once Alex Marquez entered the Repsol Honda team with his brother Marc, Zarco was left holding the short end of … Finally, Ducati called me on Monday saying ‘we need to talk’. Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti confirmed Bagnaia and Zarco have new contracts in place, but who will line-up alongside Miller in 2021? Now I'm just happy to offer them this good result. Johann Zarco will try out his new machine – the GP19 – at the upcoming Sepang Test on the 7th, 8th and 9th of February. And then some laps I was making mistakes. And then, for my part, I was going to have the opportunity to try to compete once more for the Top 7 or 10, to stay with Ducati then deserve and even better bike in the near future, with podiums perhaps being the icing on the cake”. A return to the Top 7 or 10 at all races would be good. Contact Crash.Net Privacy Policy Get Crash RSS Newsfeeds About Crash.Net. That was the least number of falls at any grand prix weekend since Qatar 2009 (excluding the Laguna Seca events, which only featured the MotoGP class). Further down the list, eight accidents for KTM's Pol Espargaro was the least in his six MotoGP seasons to date, despite the troubles experienced by team-mate Zarco. We had several meetings during which they explained to me what they would make available to me and they were able to convince me. "Now, Ducati is taking care of all these details in the team and we can see that all the Ducati technicians taking care, plus the mechanics are full of passion and they were working well. I am very please to officially announce my signature with Ducati for 2020 season in MotoGP category in the Reale Avintia Racing Team. That's the least number of times he's had to abandon ship since 2015. Following his standout Brno weekend, Zarco said he believes he was right to hold reservations about joining Avintia. “Firstly, I would like to say that the news should have been announced before the magazine came out. Of course, when he called that press conference in Valencia to announce that he was retiring, I thought it looked pretty good. Zarco, the story so far... 10/12/2019, motogp.com takes a look back at the World Championship career so far of Johann Zarco after it was announced that he will be racing for Reale Avintia in 2020. @motogp - @ducati - @realeavintia #race #sohappy #backinbusiness #jz5, A post shared by Johann Zarco (@johannzarco) on Dec 9, 2019 at 8:04am PST. F1 video: Destination unknown for Sergio Perez? Having had good feelings and them being satisfied with my approach, it encourages me to believe that everything will be okay. Highlighting this as an area for improvement, Zarco says some mistakes during the race "confirmed the things" he has to do on the bike to get the maximum from it. “It’s getting better! As such, the kind of amazing saves produced by Marquez are not included. How did it all come about? Miller's rookie Pramac Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was tied with Marquez on 14 falls. Marquez was ranked joint third for MotoGP class falls, pleasing his Honda mechanics by cutting his crash tally from 23 to 14 in the space of a season. On Monday it was made official that you will be riding with Reale Avintia Racing team. Ferrari's 1000th GP: Top 10 greatest Ferrari F1 cars. "But, also they were like a private team, not a satellite team - it was not the same investment from Ducati and at this level everything is so expensive and all the parts on the bike, all details are so important. All rights reserved. Johann Zarco and Reale Avintia confirmed that the French rider will be on a Ducati in 2020, on Monday. Besides, it was a weird Sunday, because I already knew that I had very little chance. With Avintia becoming an official Ducati satellite team for 2020 and receiving technical support, Zarco eventually agreed a deal to join the outfit. It’s been healing now for 20 days and I’m able to walk without limping and ride a bike… I can’t run yet, but let’s say it’s all going in the right direction”. Zarco botched his launch off the line despite running Ducati's holeshot device, and was sixth on the run to Turn 3 as a result. Yamaha, KTM, Honda and now Ducati: it will be the fourth bike you ride in as many years, how do you expect to adapt to the Desmosedici? "So that's why they were struggling a lot. My left ankle is recovering well, I can enjoy now my winter time having rest with family and training again very soon!