Despite his recent struggles, Johann Zarco was inside the top three at the end of Friday at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ever since his podium at the British Grand Prix, Johann Zarco has not featured inside the top five and has crashed out of six Grands Prix.

However, the Frenchman believes he was able to rebuild his confidence on his LCR Honda Castrol RC213V during the Friday Practice sessions at the Malaysian Grand Prix, even with the mixed weather conditions throughout the day.

Zarco was able to end the day in second place on the timesheets and was 0.019 seconds behind Pedro Acosta, who topped the session.

"I am so happy, because it was good to play with this weather," Zarco told MotoGP.com after a positive opening day in Sepang.

"We had to do our first time attack very early on in the session, and I did a good lap time. Then it started to rain, and I thought I had done enough, but then it got dry, and we had to push for another time.

"I am so happy that, again, I made huge improvements. Which was very important to do, because with my first lap time, I would not have been in Q2.

"It is important to get back to a decent level, with better confidence on the bike. Because across the last races I have been losing my confidence on the bike. Today we tried other things that helped me to get better.

"I hope tomorrow I will do a great qualifying, and keep working on the good feelings I got today."

'Now we can put the Hondas into the top ten...'

Compared to the tracks where Zarco has struggled in recent weeks, he prefers the Petronas Sepang International Circuit, and due to winter testing has vast amounts of experience around. Which makes rebuilding his confidence an easier task.

"Malaysia is a track I like, plus it is a track where we did a lot of laps during the winter test," he explained.

"So, it always helps here to make a reset. But clearly, we had to play a lot with the setup, to bring something new to my feeling."

The Frenchman also believes that, compared to the winter test at the start of the 2025 season, it is visible how much Honda has improved throughout the year.

"The progress from Honda we have seen since August, with all the great results from Luca [Marini] and [Joan] Mir," Zarco stated.

"So, it is a good confirmation here in Malaysia. We cannot compare the lap times because the grip of the track is very different compared to the winter test. But compared to the other bikes, now we can put the Hondas into the top ten."