Zarco says outburst at Jerez MotoGP stewards was ‘unprofessional’

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Johann Zarco concedes his outburst towards the FIM stewards at the Spanish Grand Prix was “not professional” following a second meeting with them at Le Mans.

Zarco raged at chief FIM steward Freddie Spencer following last month’s Spanish GP after a collision with Aleix Espargaro late in the race.

The French rider’s frustrations at the stewards’ processes – among other things – led to a fiery outburst in race control, before telling the media that he felt Spencer was not right for his job.

On Thursday ahead of this weekend’s French GP, Zarco met with the stewards again to discuss what happened at Jerez, with his LCR team posting on social media:

“LCR rider Johann Zarco has attended this morning to a meeting with the Stewards Panel, after the incident in Jerez.

“The outcome of it has been very positive, with both parties discussing how to enhance the safety and reviews of all incidents occurred in the championship.”

Zarco admitted on Thursday in the pre-event press conference that his actions were unprofessional and explained further as to what happened in his meeting with the stewards on Thursday.

“Two weeks are gone, so we can arrive a little bit calmer to a meeting,” he began.

“What was not professional from my side was to get a high voice [shout] during the meeting.

“It was not necessary to do it, but after the crash and what happened and the way the meeting was happening, I needed to say those things.

“But this was not professional from my side. But I said to Freddie and the other marshals, they are free to take a decision, but it’s only Freddie who is speaking but then they take the decision all three.

“I said that I was clearly not agreeing – and we do not agree – many times on different things.

“They try to study the things and just there are some intentions, and then there is also the comment of the riders. And that’s a bit complicated.

“I could say my feelings and that was great, and we spoke about it.

“But about this last incident, it was just the feeling of the meeting that was not really great because almost when they want to know what I think about the crash – what could I say about the crash?

“I could not say a lot because I’m the one who gets hit and I needed to justify something. So, that’s why I got a bit angry.”