Following a successful debut in 2018, Johann Zarco and Hafizh Syahrin are excited to head to South America this week for the second round of the season at the Termas de Río Hondo Circuit. With a stunning performance during the Qatar GP a fortnight ago, the fast Frenchman is determined to build on his brilliant achievements, while premier class rookie Syahrin aims to further improve aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1 of the French outfit ensuing a remarkable first MotoGP race.
The Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina is set to commence with the first Free Practice at 10:55 local time this Friday. The lights for the second Grand Prix of 2018 will switch off at 15:00 local time on Sunday the 8th of April.
Rider1 2018
Johann Zarco
Championship: 8th – Points: 8
“I’m happy to be back on the bike soon. After Qatar we had two weeks of rest and I tried the best to prepare myself and thought about everything that happened during the first race of this year’s championship. I’m highly motivated to repeat the fastest lap and I want to lead the race again, plus take the opportunity to win this time. At the moment, our first target is to push for the victory and then, if we feel good or not, we can see which goal we can set on Sunday, but I think we are ready to have a great result in South America.”
Rider1 2018
Hafizh Syahrin
Championship: 14th – Points: 2
“I tried to focus on my physical condition and also my mind for the next race in Argentina. I’m ready for the second round and so excited to ride my crazy horse again. Since Qatar I tried to learn more. I watched some MotoGP action from last year to see what they did during Qualifying and the race. I think I could gain some experience in seeing this and now I want to try to adapt it on the weekend. I trained hard, so I’m more than ready for Argentina and thrilled to ride the big machine in Termas de Río Hondo.”
Syahrin – 2018
Herve Poncharal 2018
Team Manager
“After what I believe was a very good start of the 2018 season, the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team is now heading to South America. This is a place and a country we really like and we enjoy spending a week in Termas de Río Hondo. The circuit has a beautiful layout, is very interesting and technical, plus provides great fights every year with all the safety required. I have to say that the organizers together with Dorna and IRTA work truly hard to improve the paddock. I want to say thank you to all these guys, because we have a paddock that is matching the MotoGP standard and it’s a good feeling spending time there. Regarding our two riders, I believe the Yamaha YZR-M1 has always been fast there. Last year Johann scored his first points in MotoGP with a 5th place and a big recovery from a poor qualifying. Hafizh will have to learn this track. But since he joined us, he was very impressive and he will be soon feeling at ease and at home on his M1 at this circuit. All in all, the break since Doha was good, but we all feel ready and eager to race again. I hope the weather will be with us and the crowd will be even bigger than last year. We can’t wait to be there to meet our Argentinian friends.”