Johann Sylvain Pierre 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. He is a MotoGP race winner, and currently rides for Castrol Honda LCR in MotoGP.
Zarco is also a former runner-up and race winner in 125 cc class (now converted to Moto3) in 2011, 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. With 18 Grand Prix victories across all classes and two Moto2 championships, Zarco is one of the most successful French riders in Grand Prix racing history.
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.
For 2011, Zarco signed with Ajo Motorsport. At the second race, the Spanish Grand Prix, he gained his first podium finish by finishing third.
Zarco moved up to the Moto2 class with the JiR team, aboard Motobi bikes in 2012. He finished the season tenth in the standings with 95 points and was easily the highest placed rookie that year.
Ioda Project Racing Team (2013)
In 2013, Zarco moved to the Ioda Project Racing Team aboard a Suter, he improved on his rookie season by finishing on the podium twice and ended ninth on the standings with 141 points.
Caterham Moto Racing Team (2014)
For 2014, Zarco joined the new Caterham Moto Racing team. He impressed on what many considered to be an inferior bike compared to the mainly dominant Kalex bikes. He managed to earn four podium finishes, as well as one pole position, earning him sixth in the standings with 146 points.
In 2015, Zarco moved to the debuting Ajo Motorsport team, who he raced with in the 125cc class. Zarco dominated the field and won his first Moto2 title, with eight wins, 14 podiums, seven poles and a record points haul of 352.
Zarco remained with the team for 2016 and successfully defended his Moto2 title, becoming the first rider in the Moto2 era to win two intermediate titles, with seven wins, ten podiums, seven poles and 276 points. Zarco became a popular figure with the fans with his spectacular backflip celebrations when he won a race. During the 2016 season, Zarco got his first taste of MotoGP machinery, testing the Suzuki GSX-RR with Suzuki Ecstar in a private test at track in Ruyo, Japan.
Team Suzuki Ecstar (testing 2016)
Zarco signed a pre-contract with Team Suzuki Ecstar in 2016 before the recruitment for 2017 was carried out. Zarco tested with Suzuki in a private test at the Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Ultimately, Alex Rins was chosen to replace the departing Aleix Espargaro, while Andrea Iannone was chosen to replace the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP-bound Maverick Vinales.
Monster Yamaha Tech3 (2017–2018)
For 2017, Zarco moved up to the premier class with the Tech3 Yamaha team. On his MotoGP debut at Qatar, Zarco shocked the grid by taking the lead on the first lap and building a two-second lead, until he crashed out at turn 2 on lap 6. He scored his first MotoGP podium, a second place, at Le Mans. He got his first pole position at Assen. In the race, he touched with Rossi and dropped to fourth, and eventually finished in 14th place. Zarco again started from pole at the Japanese Grand Prix, but ultimately finished the race in eighth place. He achieved podium finishes in Sepang (Malaysia) and Valencia (Spain) where he finished in third and second respectively. He received the Rookie of the Year Award for 2017 and finished the season in sixth, the highest placed independent rider.
In 2018, Zarco started the season with a pole position in Qatar, before dropping to finish eighth. He finished second in the Argentinian and Spanish Grands Prix, and achieved another pole position at his home French Grand Prix before crashing out of the race. In Malaysia, he repeated his third place podium finish from the previous year, and again finished sixth in the rider's championship standings.