Johann Zarco will leave Pramac Racing at the end of the 2023 MotoGP season and will ride for LCR Honda in 2024. Given Johann's track record and achievements in the MotoGP category since his debut, LCR and HRC are enthusiastic about embarking on a collaborative endeavour. After feeling ignored by Honda this season, Alex Rins opted to join the factory Yamaha team for the upcoming 2024 season, thereby terminating a two-year contract with the Japanese manufacturer. Two-time Moto2 World Champion and French rider Johann Zarco have signed a two-year contract with LCR Honda, an HRC customer team, beginning in 2024. The three-year partnership between Johann Zarco and Prima Pramac Racing will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Zarco and the Pramac Team will maintain their pursuit of performance in the remaining rounds of the 2023 Championship.
MotoGP: Honda Excited on Johann Zarco on Joining
Given Johann's track record and achievements in the MotoGP category since his entry, LCR and HRC are enthusiastic about embarking on a collaborative endeavour. Zarco stated that he had the option of continuing his one-year contract with Ducati and possibly switching teams before moving to WorldSBK in 2025 or taking up Honda's new two-year MotoGP project, which includes an option for 2026.
The news you already know!
LCR Honda CASTROL is proud to announce the signing of Johann Zarco.
The two-time Moto2 World Champion will join the team in 2024!Bienvenu, Johann! #LCR #NotBreakingNews #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/1aaqEg9Z6u
— LCR Team (@lcr_team) August 22, 2023
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Lucio Cecchinello, LCR Honda Team Principal: “We are very excited to welcome Johann to the LCR Honda Castrol team with all the respective details and signatures now in place. It is a return to the team after we had some brief time together in 2019, where we could already see his potential and work ethic. There are still a lot of races and work to be done this season, but we are looking forward to the start of this new project in 2024.”
Johann Zarco on his Pramac departure said, “I’ve spent four years with Ducati, three of them with the Pramac team, and I am very content with what we have built and achieved together. In 2021, I finished the championship in fifth place, marking my best-ever MotoGP result, but my goal is to do even better this year. At the end of this season, I will leave with a smile because the team and Ducati have given me so much, and together we have fought for truly significant accomplishments.
“Next year, I will face a new challenge, but for now, I want to conclude this championship with my team in the best way possible. I thank my entire team, Ducati, and all the people who have worked alongside me during these years we spent together. The ultimate goal remains to stand atop the podium and proudly sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, together with Paolo Campinoti, whom I sincerely thank for all the support he has given me since day one,” he added.
MotoGp: The Honda RC213V Challenge
Leaving the Desmosedici GP, the best bike on the grid, to ride the RC213V, which has not only prevented two world champions, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir but also caused numerous crashes and injuries among riders this season, is no easy task. Aside from Rins's triumph in Austin, neither Marquez nor Mir has scored more than two points on Sunday. Zarco, on the other hand, gave off the impression that he found the challenge ahead to be stimulating, especially since he has the opportunity to restore a historic brand like the Japanese one to its past glory, which ought to guarantee him factory support.
Also Read: MotoGP: 'Honda Never Quits', Says HRC President Yasuharu Watanabe Amid Japanese Exit Rumour
To compete with KTM and Ducati, Honda debuted an aerodynamic fairing on Takaaki Nakagami's LCR-run bike at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago. Marquez and his teammate Joan Mir used the new aero kit at the Austrian Grand Prix. Marquez felt "better and better" as the day went on with the new aero, but he still had to ride the RC213V differently to compensate for it, and the bike's poor acceleration was still an issue.
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