Zarco "was thinking of stopping" before Honda MotoGP chance came

The Frenchman capped off his fourth and final season as a Ducati rider fifth in the standings for the Pramac squad, having scored a maiden MotoGP victory in Australia in October.

Zarco has signed to join Honda with the LCR squad for the next two seasons, beginning in 2024, to reignite a partnership that ran for just three races in 2019 when he was drafted in as a replacement for the injured Takaaki Nakagami.

He had been offered a one-year deal to remain with Ducati for 2024, but was likely to then be moved to World Superbikes after that – something he didn’t feel was befitting of the fact he was still a top five rider in MotoGP.

Following the Valencia Grand Prix, in which he finished third but was promoted to second due to a penalty for Fabio Di Giannantonio, Zarco admitted he was considering retiring from MotoGP before the Honda opportunity came up.

“It’s easy to answer with the victory in Phillip Island, because it’s always the best result that we can have,” he said when asked what he was most proud of in his time with Ducati.

“But then the consistency also I got overall in 2021, and this year again.

“We are learning new things with the sprint races. I didn’t get many points in the sprint race, but at least I’m still saving this fifth position in the championship.

“I was thinking of maybe stopping at the end of this season, but then I got this opportunity, feeling fresh enough to do two years more.

“I’m quite proud about this, that I’ve gotten this new energy to perform this season, do podiums, get the victory, consistency and then see forward for the future.”

Zarco made his first outing on a Honda since the 2019 Valencia GP during the post-season test last month.

The Frenchman was 1.030 seconds off the pace in 17th after completing 61 laps on the 2024 RC213V, outpacing new team-mate Nakagami by seven-tenths.