Johann Zarco was one of MotoGP’s hottest properties as the 2018 season reached its climax, the Tech 3 Yamaha rider having stunned the paddock in an eye-opening first two years in the premier class.
The Frenchman graduated to MotoGP on the back of two successive Moto2 world titles in 2015/16, earning a satellite M1 machine with Herve Poncharal’s team.
He led impressively before crashing on his debut in the championship at Qatar, before going on a run of four top five results in the consequent contests, which included a maiden podium finish at home in France.
By the end of his two-year Tech 3 tenure he had secured four pole positions, six podiums and back-to-back sixth places in the overall riders’ standings.
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This resulted in him attracting the attention of rising powers KTM, who duly signed him up to partner Pol Espargaro in the factory outfit on a two-year deal.
Some questioned his decision at the time, with Zarco allegedly having turned down the opportunity to sign on as Dani Pedrosa’s replacement at the official Honda squad, but either way he had reached every professional rider’s dream to compete with a manufacturer in factory capacity.
Cracks soon began to show, even just a handful of races into the Zarco/KTM partnership, as he struggled to get to grips with his new RC16, managing only a handful of points over the first six races as his team-mate proved what the bike was capable of by mixing it in the top 10.
Reports soon began to emerge of a rift becoming visible between Zarco and KTM team management, who were frustrated with the attitude of the Frenchman in regards to adapting to his new steed.
Things looked to be improving though after he raced to a strong tenth in the Catalan Grand Prix, before impressing in wet conditions – despite crashing – at Assen.
Zarco made a real statement in qualifying for the Czech GP at Brno though; snatching KTM’s best ever starting spot with third ahead of team-mate Espargaro – who was fifth – in tricky mixed conditions.
The race performance was unfortunately less glittering the as duo struggled with rear grip in the bone-dry race, Zarco falling to 14th by the chequered flag while Espargaro salvaged 11th.
Zarco had at least provided hope that he could continue to make further ground with the package, but as it turned out his Brno qualifying performance would be as good as it got.
He had had enough, and requested an early termination of his contract, the stipulation being that he would finish the season with the Austrian team but leave afterwards.
As it turned out he would fail to finish the year, KTM deciding to focus on the future and terminating Zarco ahead of the Aragon GP – replacing him with test rider Mika Kallio.
Zarco was now in trouble as most ’20 seats had already been snapped up, leaving him with two options.
He could either sign on with Yamaha in a testing role, or replace Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda for the final three races due to the Japanese rider deciding to move forward a shoulder operation in order to be strong for winter testing.
He took the risky path and took the LCR gig, with an eye on potentially replacing the struggling Jorge Lorenzo at the factory Honda team for ’20.
Many expected him to fail, with the Honda thought to be even trickier to ride than the KTM machine.
The reality was quite the contrary though, Zarco immediately out-pacing Lorenzo and pushing team-mate Cal Crutchlow closer than expected.
He bagged an impressive 13th on debut at Phillip Island before challenging for a top 10 in the very next race in Malaysia, albeit crashing out late on in a tangle with Suzuki’s Joan Mir.
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He had made his mark though, and despite missing out on the Honda ride to Moto2 champion Alex Marquez, Ducati came knocking.
They were keen to sign him up, having known what Lorenzo was capable of on the Desmosedici, with Zarco sharing a strikingly similar riding style to the Mallorcan.
A lot of back-and-forth ensued, before a deal with the Avintia squad was announced in mid-December, with a view to potentially moving to either official satellite outfit Pramac Racing or the main team in the future.
It’s safe to say it’s not been the most relaxing year for Zarco, having looked to be sitting on the sidelines next year at several points during the year, but at the end of it all he has been given a lifeline to restore the great momentum he had built up before departing for KTM at the end of last year.
It’s now down to him to prove he’s not just a one-trick pony.
