Yesterday, Zarco had been very cautious, recalling last year’s victory in the rain. He had said that under normal conditions, he would definitely not be the favorite. Well, today the Le Mans sun proved him wrong. On home soil, the Frenchman from the LCR team finished Friday at the Bugatti Circuit at the top of the standings.
Sure, it’s only Friday and it’s not yet time to get ahead of ourselves, but neither is it time to play hide-and-seek: the Honda is improving in small but crucial ways— as Mir’s 5th-place finish also shows —Zarco’s confidence is growing too, and Le Mans remains “a magical place.” Plus, the forecast calls for rain on Sunday, so why not believe that something magical could happen again?
“Luckily it wasn’t raining today, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done! ” Johann declared. “Joking aside, I’m very happy. It’s Friday and I already started from a decent level, and then, switching from the medium rear tyre to the soft, the feeling remained good. Not perfect, but good. Now, with the team, we understand the bike better and are able to tweak very small but important details that give me the right feeling and help me gain more confidence. Then there’s the crowd, of course: maybe they give me a little extra energy. But I don’t think about it too much. I just let them push me, as if they were lifting me a little higher.”
Did you expect to be up front even in dry conditions?
“Being competitive in the dry today is very positive. When I say the feeling is improving, it means we’re heading in the right direction. And I’m really happy that the work is paying off. The bike’s base has been promising since the start of the year—I always say that. The point is that before, I couldn’t fully exploit its potential. Since Austin and Jerez, however, we’ve made progress on small details, and I’m glad we’re now seeing the results.”
Throughout the entire day today, the Hondas were pretty fast. Do you have an explanation for why they’re so competitive right here at Le Mans?
“No, I don’t have a specific explanation. I’m just happy to see the other Hondas up front too. That pushes me to give more as well. In the end, everyone wants to be the top Honda rider, so it’s great that there’s this internal drive. The fact that all four of us are right there, within three or four—anyway, less than five-tenths—is a very positive sign." To be honest, there are three Hondas within half a second, because Diogo Moreira is eight-tenths behind his teammate.
Why is it better here than in Jerez?
“It depends on the track design, the layout, but I can’t explain exactly why.”
And where on the track do you feel most comfortable with this bike?
“Compared to last year, I’d say right from the first corner, the very fast one. It’s not a fast corner in terms of acceleration, but in terms of braking. And there I feel very confident. It’s a really nice feeling to have. In general, we’ve improved in braking and acceleration: that’s the foundation of our bike compared to last year. For me, at first it was harder to get the bike into the corner, but with more and more laps, with testing and trying different setups, we’re starting to understand how to get this bike into the corner and exploit its potential. So, compared to 2025, on this track, I think that the basic improvement in braking and acceleration has already raised the level of all the riders.”
If the weather changes as the forecast says, how much of the work done today in dry conditions can also be useful in the wet? Or do we start from scratch?
“When conditions change, you simply have to adapt. It’s a whole different story: a different feel on the bike, a different level of concentration. We’ll see. Throughout the week, we were all watching the forecasts and expecting rain, thinking it might give me an advantage. But it’s nice to show that I want to be competitive in the dry too, that I want to battle with the others even under these conditions.”
With today’s great day, you’ve raised expectations around you significantly—do you feel more pressure now?
“No. From what I experienced here last year, this place is simply magical to me. And what happened today just gives us more reason to dream, to believe that another bit of magic could happen. For now, that’s how I’m taking it,” concluded the LCR rider.