Zarco close to finalising LCR Honda MotoGP move at Austrian GP
Having felt a lack of factory support from Honda this season, Alex Rins announced a few weeks ago that he would be quitting his HRC deal with LCR a year early and join Yamaha for 2024. Over the British Grand Prix weekend, Zarco emerged as favourite to replace the Spaniard, with the Frenchman having contested three rounds for LCR at the end of 2019 following his departure from KTM. Zarco has been a Ducati rider since 2020, after senior management was able to convince him to sign a deal to race for Avintia - a move he was initially reticent to, branding the outfit as "not a top team" and claiming he would have rather returned to Moto2 - before being promoted to Pramac on works machinery for 2021. Speaking to Motorsport.com's Spanish language edition, Ducati's sporting director Paolo Ciabatti acknowledged on Saturday from the Red Bull Ring that the intention of Zarco was to ink a two-year deal when the Italian marque only offered one. ...