Rossi tips “big surprise” Zarco for Le Mans victory bid

Tech 3 Yamaha rookie Zarco, who crashed out of the lead on his MotoGP debut in Qatar and has since posted three straight top-five finishes, was a standout performer of the premier class' qualifying shoot-out at Le Mans.

The Frenchman, who rides a 2016-spec Yamaha, narrowly escaped exiting in Q1 as he produced a last-gasp lap to advance at the expense of Honda's Dani Pedrosa. He went on to finish third in Q2, ending up 0.235s off pole.

Yamaha rider Rossi, who will line up between pole-sitting works teammate Maverick Vinales and Zarco on Sunday, reckoned the rookie could trouble the two factory riders ahead, given his pace in race simulations in FP4.

“I think that Zarco is the big surprise,” Rossi said. “I mean, 'surprise', everybody expected that he'd be fast because he's a two-time world champion [in Moto2].

"But he did also more. He's always very strong, rides very fast. And looking at FP4 he has a great pace, also in the long run, so I think that he can fight for the victory or for the podium.”

Vinales echoed his teammate's sentiment, saying: “From what I saw today, he will have a really good chance to be in the front tomorrow fighting with us, I think.

“He's doing a good job, he has to continue like this. Just [he should] be calm with us - we have to finish the race on the podium,” the Spaniard added jokingly.

Zarco himself said a Saturday that had started poorly “finished like a dream” and reckoned he could get a strong result out of the race.

Asked about his podium hopes, he said: “The bike has the potential, and when you analyse all the season last year, you can see that [Jorge] Lorenzo and Vale were so strong. I say, why not?

“If you use the bike well, you have to be in this position, it’s a good opportunity for tomorrow.”

Vinales aiming to “recover the confidence” of early 2017

Zarco's star turn was just one part of what was a very strong day for Yamaha, as it bounced back from an underwhelming showing at Jerez to lock out the front row.

Poleman Vinales, who had won the first two races but crashed in Austin and was only sixth at Jerez, felt he was free of the front tyre issues that have recently held him back.

“I think we had some problems with the front in the last two races, but here we have a good grip in the front,” he said.

“For sure, it's a really important race. We have to recover the confidence we had in the first two races.

“So we'll try to push from the first lap to the last lap. I think we have a good opportunity and we have to take all the chances we can.”