Two months after his crash in Barcelona, Johann Zarco knows he won’t need surgery—the Frenchman is training hard for his MotoGP return, scheduled for September
Just under two months after his serious accident at the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona, Johann Zarco knows that the worst is behind him. His left leg, which became entangled in Francesco Bagnaia’s motorcycle during the fateful crash on May 17, is now healing so well that Zarco’s daily life is back to normal. A few days ago, the 35-year-old Frenchman received confirmation from his doctors that ligament surgery is not necessary.
Zarco had already resumed his physical training back in June. In recent days, he has been able to step up his efforts with bike rides and workouts at the gym. The LCR Honda rider is now specifically preparing for his return to the MotoGP bike. That return is currently scheduled for September.
“Things are going well because an important decision was made about a week ago—namely, not to have surgery,” Zarco is quoted as saying by Canal+. “That’s good, because it means I can start training again and get back in shape, so to speak.”
“That long month, during which I could barely move and may have lost some physical fitness, was also a month of recovery. Now it’s great to start a rehab program and fitness training,” said the 35-year-old.
“If they had told me that I would have to have surgery after all, then the season would, of course, have been completely ruined by the surgery and the resulting recovery time. That’s why I’m really happy,” says Zarco.
“I feel good because I can move normally again and train normally again. That breathes new life into an athlete. It makes you feel alive again. Those are exactly the things that make me feel like I’m doing well,” said the veteran MotoGP rider from France.
It has not yet been definitively determined which of the two Grand Prix races in September Zarco will return to. What is certain, however, is that he will have to serve a double long-lap penalty on the first race Sunday following his return. This is the sporting consequence of the crash at the start of the race in Barcelona, in which Zarco was so seriously injured.
The MotoGP race commissioners deliberately waited until Zarco was feeling better to analyze the May 17 crash and question the LCR Honda rider via video conference. That happened a few days ago. Since they did not identify Zarco as the cause of the crash until two months later, the penalty could not be imposed until then either.
A penalty that is postponed for so long is nothing new in the MotoGP world. Most recently, Jorge Martin was handed a similar “delayed” penalty following the start crash in the Motegi Sprint in September 2025. The Aprilia factory rider had to serve his double long-lap penalty when he made his comeback two months later at the season finale in Valencia.