Johann Zarco reckons he “waited too long” to push forward for victory in the Indonesian Grand Prix after fidning himself unable to “trust” the grip of the wet track.
The Pramac Ducati rider dropped from third on the grid to fifth at the start of the sodden encounter at the Mandalika International Circuit, though started to make forward progress as the race progressed, eventually relieving Jack Miller of third three circulations from the flag to score his first rostrum since last June’s Catalan GP.
Zarco admitted post-race though that he felt he had “clearly lost too much time trying to overtake” Miller, the Frenchman conceding that he believed he lacked the “instinct” of the Aussie as well as eventual race winner Miguel Oliveira to push ahead in the early stages of the soaking encounter.
“I clearly lost too much time trying to overtake Jack and when I accelerated I was spinning, and even though I was better on braking it was not enough to overtake him quickly and not enough to catch Miguel (Oliveira) so that was the pity of the race,” explained Zarco.
“I’m left with the feeling I waited a bit too long because there was so much water on the track it was difficult to trust (the grip) after first two corners and push a lot.
“Third place is very positive because the weekend has been strong and I will work like this every weekend to make myself stronger.
“The experience helps a lot to control the situation, I know the track was very warm and this tarmac brings a lot of grip in the wet but I needed a few laps to understand it that’s why Jack and Miguel were incredible because to be as fast as that at the beginning they have incredible instincts.
“There’s no choice that you can just adapt immediately to do something well, if not you are nowhere so that’s how it is.”
Zarco says he was “happy” to see the tropical storm coat the Indonesian venue in water prior to the contest due to the conditions subsequently being much easier to deal with physically, the two-time Moto2 world champion praising the “incredible” grip afforded in the wet by the recently-completed Mandalika circuit when he finally found confidence to push.
“I’m very happy, when I saw the rain I was happy because I knew I would suffer much less physically because in warm-up the heat was crazy,” added Zarco.
“That was a positive but I didn’t expect to have the full race in the wet, I thought the track would get drier but we had the rain all race.
“The grip we had in the wet was incredible because we could push a lot, so I could have a good fight with the other riders like (Alex) Rins and then a bit with Jack (Miller), Fabio (Quartararo) got us also and in that moment because I knew I lost the podium I had to take even more risk, but it was working.
“Overall a podium is many points for the championship so I’ll take them, it’s true that for a long time I wasn’t on the podium but it wasn’t so bad you can only do your best every race so you have to accept when guys are stronger than you or when you cannot do much more.”
