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There will be a huge amount of telemetry data to analyse in the Yamaha camp tonight... but it will be that of Johann Zarco, who closes the three-day test in Thailand with the second fastest time, the fastest Yamaha rider by a long way, finishing behind Pedrosa.
The Frenchman closes 0.493 of a second ahead of Vinales (8th) and 0.730 ahead of Rossi (12th).
What does this mean? Johann explains it with his usual calm approach.
“I like the track. You need a good frame here and the Yamaha one is good. I think I'm almost 100% with this bike, but I still need to better understand this base to be sure."
Zarco is keeping his feet on the ground.
“I should point out that in October we'll have different tyres and the weather will be different too, but thanks to today's performance, we know we have a good balance and so i think we'll get on OK. It's been a positive day, like yesterday, but while I was on the limit yesterday, today I've lapped five tenths quicker. This means we've improved the bike and that I am also riding better. I also played with the soft tyres, though we won't have these come October. Anyway, the bike is behaving well and pushing it to this limit teaches us a lot. I hope to start at this level in Qatar”.
Are you ready to try and win your first Grand Prix? You already tried in 2017 of course…
“It's always a different story in the race, you have to fight against your rivals and complete 26 consecutive laps. I don't think I'm quite there yet. We're close to the podium, even on the podium but to fight for the win, you need to be stronger and faster. I see Marquez is sorted and very fast. He's always been quicker than me so, like I said, I'm aiming for the podium”.
Is there anything Vale and Maverick can learn from Zarco in terms of approach to the tests?
“I don't know. Everyone has his own way of doing things and of riding, I'm only in my second year of MotoGP, but I'm having fun"
You told us that the best way to be fast with this bike is to imitate Lorenzo's style.
"I'm still sure about this. I look closely at Lorenzo, his style, he's fast, also on the Ducati, a sign that the bike is fast, he was often at a high level with the Yamaha, perhaps he hasn't found the right way here in Thailand, I know he looks for perfection. I am trying to understand his method”.
After these tests, do you think you can do better than 2017?
“Buriram is a small track though it has long 320 Km/h straights. We can still improve but we're close to 100%,. I can't say whether I can do a lot better than in 2017. I'm competitive though, yes”.
Syahrin, your new team-mate has had a positive debut.
“I'm pleased for him, we hope to have him for the entire season. He's very humble and has a clean riding style, he can become fast. It's not easy of course, but he's young and he listens, which is key”.
