Johann Zarco heads into the 2026 MotoGP season looking to re-establish himself alongside factory Honda riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini, even if he knows the solution will not be as simple as copying their set-up.
Zarco effectively carried Honda through its most difficult period in 2024 and early 2025, delivering a famous victory at the rain-hit French Grand Prix last year before notching up another podium at Silverstone shortly afterwards.
But when Honda brought a sizeable update midway through 2025 that genuinely turned the RC213V into a competitive machine, Zarco struggled to adjust to the new bike and fell behind Mir and Marini in the competitive order. In fact, the situation became so dire that at one point, he had to revert to his previous spec bike in search of the missing confidence.
The new season represents something of a reset for the Frenchman as he enters the first campaign of a two-year contract signed late last season.
Honda is eager for its satellite LCR outfit to contribute more consistently after finishing next-to-bottom in the teams’ standings, despite the factory’s late resurgence. With rookie Diogo Moreira needing time to get up to speed in the premier class, much of the responsibility falls on Zarco to deliver results and hit the ground running when the season begins.
One factor that could work in his favour is the expected stability of the RC213V this year. With Honda already diverting significant resources towards its 2027 850cc project, the current bike is unlikely to undergo major in-season changes after the first quarter of the year.
Joan Mir, Honda HRC, Luca Marini, Honda HRC
Photo by: MotoGP
“I’m working with my technician to prepare for the season, to have this possibility to react quickly in case of problems because I feel good on the bike and I know my bike. When I share my comments, they can change something and it works,” Zarco explained.
“We were controlling this very well last year. Then I lost this flow during the season when the bike started to change. Now we know the bike will not change too much this year because we have another project for ‘27, so I am looking forward to working on small things that give a lot to the rider.”
Rebuilding process begins at Sepang
Zarco spent the opening day of the Sepang test completing development work for LCR and Honda, leaving little time to find the ‘feeling’ riders look for from their bikes.
There was some tangible progress on the second day as he managed to extract more pace from the RC213V. However, he couldn’t feel as comfortable as Mir and Marini, having followed the HRC duo directly on track. An intense shower in the afternoon didn’t help matters and consigned most of the grid to the garage.
Finally, he struck the right chord with his Honda on day three, the breakthrough allowing him to finish 15th on the timesheets, three tenths down on Mir but ahead of Marini.
“I finished the Sepang test on a positive note,” added Zarco. “The feeling got better and better because the way I started on the first day and the second day, I was struggling a bit because what I was doing on the bike was not really working.
“You could feel there was a good potential to go fast and Mir and Marini were making positive comments, but I could not really be as positive as them. But at the end of the second day and the third day, I’ve been a bit more positive and more constant. So, this was really good. I think the bike has improved very well.”
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: LCR Honda MotoGP Team
That said, Zarco is aware that he still has a lot of work to do in the Buriram test on 21-22 February before the season-opening Thai Grand Prix on 1 March. Primarily, performance on used tyres remains a concern for him.
“I still need to get a good balance. A race bike is very sensitive and to be on the right balance is not easy. But once you get it, then you have a lot of fun, and that will be the target at Buriram,” he said.
“Maybe we still struggle with the tyre drop. Everyone has a tyre drop here in Malaysia. But from my side, when it starts to drop, the control of the bike gets more and more difficult. Then every lap gets worse and worse.
“It was my weak point during the race last year. I still feel that I did not improve this point well enough. Let’s see how Buriram is doing with different tyres, but we can have a little bit of the same behaviour. I know this will be a point that I have to find a solution for during the season.”
As was the case last year, Zarco is aware that he cannot mirror the same set-up direction as Mir and Marini. Instead, he feels he needs a bespoke solution according to his requirements and riding style.
Asked where he felt he made the biggest improvement over the course of the Sepang test, the 35-year-old said: “The control on the bike. This comes with set-up. I need to have my own set-up because clearly, we cannot copy what the other guys do, even if they are super positive with what they are doing.
“Because of the morphology of the bodies, they [Mir and Marini] are so different. And we can see that where you put your weight on the bike makes a lot of difference. So that’s why we need to understand how to make the bike [tailored] for me.”
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