Johann Zarco | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Zarco at the 2015 Catalan Grand Prix
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Nationality | French | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Cannes, France |
16 July 1990 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bike number | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Johann Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from France, best known for winning the 2015 and 2016 Moto2 World Championship. With 16 Grand Prix victories, Zarco is also the most successful French rider in Grand Prix racing.
Born in Cannes, Zarco progressed up the motorcycling ladder and moved into minimoto championships in 2004, mainly based in Italy. In 2005, Zarco finished as runner-up in the Senior Mini European Championship and in 2006, he was runner-up in the European Open Championship. He also competed in the Italian 125cc championship, where he finished in twelfth place. Zarco took part in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2007, and won the championship at Estoril, after winning three races. He added a fourth win at the final race in Valencia. These performances enabled Zarco to become part of the Red Bull MotoGP Academy scheme along with Cameron Beaubier, Jonas Folger and Danny Kent. This reduced his racing in 2008, making a sporadic appearance in the Italian championship with Team Gabrielli.
Zarco made his Grand Prix début with the WTR San Marino Team, in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. He finished the race in the points in 15th, although the rain-shortened race meant that Zarco gained just half a point. He took seven further points-scoring finishes, as he finished 20th in the championship. Zarco's best result of the season was a sixth-place finish at Mugello.
Zarco remained with WTR for the 2010 season. Zarco started the season with a consistent run of points-scoring finishes, finishing each of the first eight races in the points. At the Czech Grand Prix, Zarco recorded the first fastest lap of his career, having pitted for slick tyres as the track's conditions became better for them to be run. He ultimately finished eleventh in the championship, despite retiring from the final three races.