Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1154402
IN THE WIND P48 Zarco, KTM Announce Divorce T he meltdown between double Moto2 Champion Johann Zarco and KTM is official. After gathering rumors over the week- end of the marque's home GP in Austria, a statement from the factory confirms that the two-year contract between rider and team will be dissolved at the end of 2019. This follows disappointment and discord over the first 11 of 19 races in 2019, with the 29-year- old Frenchman failing to capture even a glimmer of the form that took him to four pole positions and six podiums in two years with the Tech3 satellite Yamaha team. German-language website Speedweek reported rumors of the split on Sunday, August 10, reporting that Zarco had request- ed release from his contract. On Monday, August 12, the rumors were officially confirmed in a statement from KTM describing a mutual agreement. The statement confirmed the split at the end of the year, saying, "Zarco tried to adapt his riding style to the KTM RC16, and the team tried relentlessly to mold the number-5 machine to the Frenchman's wishes and requirements, while teammate Pol Espargaro made regular Q2 qualification appearances and persistently vied for top-10 posi- tions. Ultimately, both Johann and the team decided not to proceed with their joint project for 2020 and will now focus on giving the maximum for the final eight rounds and remaining months of MotoGP 2019." However, it was not certain that Zarco would be willing to see out the season, with KTM CEO Stefan Pierer having pointed out in the Speedweek interview that, while new test rider Dani Pedrosa's contract specifically excluded race appearances, established test rider Mika Kallio would be available to take over. Then the question about 2020 arises. It seems that Jack Miller's deal with Pramac Ducati is to go ahead after a worrying delay, rul- ing him out of rejoining the squad for whom he came close to winning the Moto3 title in 2014. Oliveira is a strong candidate. An- other might be Alex Marquez, af- ter his expected move to join the Petronas Moto2 team next year went sour over the weekend. Zarco's brief incumbency at KTM has been difficult to watch, after he was signed up for two years as the new star of the show. However, his silk-smooth riding style that brought such success on the Yamaha has been seriously at odds with the V4 KTM, which responds to a much more aggressive approach. Along with poor results—a single 10th his best—the atmosphere has deteriorated, with pit-box rants cap- tured on camera, and the increas- ingly gloomy Zarco hiring French former off-road hero Jean-Michel Bayle as rider coach to help him escape the slough of despond. In the same period, experi- enced factory teammate Pol Es- pargaro has achieved KTM's best ever results, a close 11th overall, and even class rookie Miguel Oliveira has beaten and outpoint- ed him, riding a KTM RC16 for the new satellite team, ironically run by the French Tech3, Zarco's old Yamaha squad. Michael Scott Johann Zarco will leave KTM after just one year.