Ajo Motorsport rider returns from the summer break with the fifth fastest time on Day 1 of Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Zarco, Moto2, Indianapolis MotoGP 2015

Johann Zarco returned from the summer break with the same strong form with which he concluded the first half of the season, placing fifth in the combined timesheet for Day 1 at Indianapolis. The Ajo Motorsport rider was conservative in the morning, but took an important step forward in the afternoon session.

The Frenchman was not among the fastest riders in the first 45 minutes after the summer break, but took things step by step as he looked to shake off the rust of a three-week break. He would go on to work on his setup for the track, with completely different characteristics to Sachsenring. The Ajo Motorsport rider was fifteenth with a time of 1:38.491.

After work between practice sessions on his Kalex, Zarco headed the timesheets in the first ten minutes of the afternoon run. He quickly improved on his best morning lap, with an eventual reduction of 1 second for a 1:37.448 time on lap 16 of his 18, that placed him fifth on the combined timesheets.

At 3:05pm on Saturday, after the final free practice session, Johann Zarco will fight for a fourth consecutive pole position.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)
1. Tito Rabat (Kalex) 1:36.967
2. Sam Lowes (Speed Up) 1:37.295 +0.328
3. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 1:37.406 +0.439
4. Alex Rins (Kalex) 1:37.446 +0.479
5. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 1:37.448 +0.481

Johann Zarco,
“I couldn’t wait to get back on my Kalex, so it was a good day today. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has never been a circuit that has been good for me, and I don’t know why, but this year we have the potential to do well. I have to know what to improve in order to go fast, and already this afternoon we took a big step forward. I’m happy with how the day went, although the team are making some changes for tomorrow and I want to improve my riding. I think I can improve everywhere on the track and I am confident that the team will help me do that.”