Johann Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2015 and 2016 Moto2 World Championships with his 2015 triumph being a record points total for the intermediate class.
And won the rookie and top independent rider of the year in MotoGP in 2017 with Monster Yamaha Tech3 finishing 6th with 3 podiums and 2 Pole Positions.
[2] Born in Cannes, Zarco progressed up the motorcycling ladder and moved into minimoto championships in 2004, mainly based in Italy.
Zarco took part in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2007,[3] and won the championship at Estoril, after winning three races.
These performances enabled Zarco to become part of the Red Bull MotoGP Academy scheme along with Cameron Beaubier, Jonas Folger and Danny Kent.
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.
In 2013, he moved to the Ioda Project Racing Team aboard a Suter, he improved on his rookie season by finishing on the podium twice and ended 9th on the standings with 141 points.
Zarco dominated the field and won his first Moto2 title,[1] with 8 wins, 14 podiums, 7 poles and a record points haul of 352.
[11] Following a difficult start to 2019 season where he struggled, managing barely to finish within the points-scoring positions, Zarco and KTM made the shock announcement at their home Austrian Grand Prix that they had reached a mutual agreement to end Zarco's contract prematurely at the end of the season.
[12] Despite initial intentions to complete the season with Zarco, KTM elected to release him unconditionally two races later after the Misano Grand Prix and replace him with test rider Mika Kallio for the remainder of the season, citing "lost hope" in the situation with Zarco's "negative attitude" before his impending departure.
[13] Zarco was offered a Honda for the last three races of the 2019 season due to regular rider Takaaki Nakagami electing to have surgery with an expected long recuperation period.
[15][16] Zarco fell during his third race on the Honda when in 10th position at Valencia, Spain, being hit when walking away by a following machine, without serious injury.
[18][19] During the Czech Grand Prix in Brno, Zarco took Esponsorama's first ever pole position, followed up with a podium finish in 3rd a day later.
1949 B. Ruffo 1950 D. Ambrosini 1951 B. Ruffo 1952 E. Lorenzetti 1953 W. Haas 1954 W. Haas 1955 H. Müller 1956 C. Ubbiali 1957 C. Sandford 1958 T. Provini 1959 C. Ubbiali 1960 C. Ubbiali 1961 M. Hailwood 1962 J. Redman 1963 J. Redman 1964 P. Read 1965 P. Read 1966 M. Hailwood 1967 M. Hailwood 1968 P. Read 1969 K. Carruthers 1970 R. Gould 1971 P. Read 1972 J. Saarinen 1973 D. Braun 1974 W. Villa 1975 W. Villa 1976 W. Villa 1977 M. Lega 1978 K. Ballington 1979 K. Ballington 1980 A. Mang 1981 A. Mang 1982 J. Tournadre 1983 C. Lavado 1984 C. Sarron 1985 F. Spencer 1986 C. Lavado 1987 A. Mang 1988 S. Pons 1989 S. Pons 1990 J. Kocinski 1991 L. Cadalora 1992 L. Cadalora 1993 T. Harada 1994 M. Biaggi 1995 M. Biaggi 1996 M. Biaggi 1997 M. Biaggi 1998 L. Capirossi 1999 V. Rossi 2000 O. Jacque 2001 D. Kato 2002 M. Melandri 2003 M. Poggiali 2004 D. Pedrosa 2005 D. Pedrosa 2006 J. Lorenzo 2007 J. Lorenzo 2008 M. Simoncelli 2009 H. Aoyama 2010 T. Elías 2011 S. Bradl 2012 M. Márquez 2013 P. Espargaró 2014 T. Rabat 2015 J. Zarco 2016 J. Zarco 2017 F. Morbidelli 2018 F. Bagnaia 2019 Á. Márquez 2020 E. Bastianini 2021 R. Gardner 2022 A. Fernández 2023 P. Acosta 2024 A. Ogura