Both Zarco and team-mate Takaaki Nakagami got to run the overhauled version of the RC213V at Jerez on Monday, after HRC test rider Stefan Bradl raced with the same bike in Spain last weekend.
However, the initial impressions of the upgraded Honda challenger were poor across the board, with Zarco saying the bike had failed to deliver a step forward in performance.
“We did a few runs on it and we couldn’t really take from this bike very positive comments,” he said. “Only one area was better but the rest [wasn’t].
“The lap time was not coming. So it’s not the bike yet that we can say, ‘okay, we did a step’. I was maybe expecting to have a step on this test with the new bike, [but] I didn’t get it.
“At the moment, yes, pace of the bike, even the new bike, it’s not giving the performance.”
After trying the new prototype, Zarco went back to the same bike he used in the Spanish GP, albeit with some new parts installed here and there for testing purposes.
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The Frenchman doesn’t expect to have further involvement in the development of the new ‘lab bike’, echoing comments from factory team rider Joan Mir who previously tested the same specification in a private run at Barcelona.
“I think no, because if not we would have continued the test on it,” he said. “The way the bike is born should normally give a better performance. And when it is not giving after a few set-up we have to put it on the side.”
However, Zarco made it clear that he would not ask HRC to stop work on the lab bike, even if it failed to appease the race riders across Barcelona and Jerez tests.
“It’s not my job to say to Honda the way they have to work with the test team,” he clarified. “Now all the riders test this new bike and didn’t get the right feeling we wanted.
“Maybe the test team won’t work anymore on this bike. I cannot tell you but I will never say to Honda don’t work on this bike because I’m not in this position to do it.”
While Zarco and Mir shared the same comments about the new lab bike, the latter found the Jerez test to be positive overall, as he feels it helped Honda find the direction it needs to take in MotoGP.