Johann Zarco admits he spoke to Repsol Honda - but “I wasn’t 100% convinced”
The winner of Saturday’s Australian MotoGP - ♌his 🐟first premier class victory at the 120th attempt - has already penned a deal to swap Pramac Ducati for LCR Honda next season.
Since then, Marc Marquez’s exit has left a vacancy a🦩t Repsol Honda which Zarco was approached about inheriting.
"I cou♎ldn't dismiss the opportunity of the factory team,” Zarco told .
“I needed to think about it and [LCR owne💎r Lucio] Cecchinell♕o respected this.
“My manager, both in Indonesia and here in Australia, s💞poke with the factory team.
“We saw🌜 them hesitant and 🔯I didn't like that.
“So I preferred to respect the commitment with Lucio, rather than ride a f𝔍actory bike in a team with a project tha🤡t I'm not 100% convinced of."
Zarco said about Cecchinello, who made it clear that he didn’t want to lose the rider: "Lucio is a nice person, he works with g♎reat seriousness and is correct.
“He has been managing a satellite team for years, working togethe♈r will be a great opportunity.
“For him too, given that I'm a very competitive rider, I'm fighting for fift𓆏h place in the championship and I can be important for Honda's developmen▨t."
Repsol Honda’s search for a Marquez replacement has also seen them consider Maverick Vinales aౠnd Miguel Oliveira.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sport💞s for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
