Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco had a contrasting weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. The two Azure pilots secured their place in Q2 on Friday before starting from the fourth row on Saturday. After an encouraging sprint for both the Cannes driver and the Nice native, the main race was more favorable to the Yamaha pilot, who finishes 12th despite a consumption problem. Johann Zarco, on the other hand, retired after another crash.
The Japanese weekend had started rather well for the two French drivers. During the first day at Motegi, Johann Zarco, competing with Honda LCR, and Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP Yamaha pilot, had accomplished the essentials by securing their place in Q2.
The qualifying session held on Saturday morning then placed the two Azure pilots in fourth row. The Cannes driver’s Honda qualified ninth, while the Nice native’s Yamaha had to start from 11th position. A situation that gave the two drivers a chance to progress from the sprint start.
Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo in the top 10 of the sprint
Johann Zarco ultimately finished seventh in the sprint. The LCR Honda driver found himself in a group including notably his teammate Diogo Moreira, Ai Ogura and Enea Bastianini, before gradually losing contact with the drivers ahead of him.
A battle with Raúl Fernández then occupied Johann Zarco until the finish line. The Frenchman managed to maintain the advantage at the end of a duel that forced him to stay focused until the last lap. “That was good, I’m happy to have won that battle,” Zarco told Canal+.
The LCR Honda driver notably benefited from the first lap to gain several positions. After a decent start from tenth position, once the starting grid had passed, Johann Zarco had avoided the collision that occurred at turn 3. “Happy too with my start: I was doing pretty well, quite far out in tenth, but it was okay. After that, I already slipped at turn 1 and, fortunately, there was the pile-up at turn 3. I wasn’t in it, so I was able to gain three positions.”
The rest of the race had highlighted Johann Zarco’s difficulties in following the pace of the drivers ahead. The Frenchman notably felt he lost time over a few fast laps. “I was around 1’44 and I couldn’t manage the times at 1’43.5. Those four laps at 1’43.5 would have made a big difference, but I didn’t have them. So I had to battle with Raúl and hold on to the end, because he had built up a bit of distance before catching me at the end. So I had to push to the end. I’m happy with seventh place.”
Fabio Quartararo finished ninth in the sprint. Starting 12th, the Yamaha pilot immediately benefited from the first-lap collision to enter the top 10. The Nice native then followed the battle between Johann Zarco and Fernández without being able to join in. He did, however, draw a positive lesson from his tire management. While several drivers experienced severe degradation, the Yamaha better preserved its tires. “For once, it works pretty well for us,” Fabio Quartararo said. “Honestly, the times were good. I did all the laps at the end. I improved my times.”
An unusual situation for the Azure pilot, regularly facing tire degradation. However, this data could be questioned for the Grand Prix due to the difficulties encountered with tires at Motegi.
The soft tire banned before the Grand Prix
The choice of tires quickly took on an important place in preparing the main race. After the problems encountered by several drivers during the sprint, Michelin banned the use of the soft tire for the Grand Prix.
The hard tire specially developed for the Japanese event was also put to greater test. Little used by the teams until then, this compound was imposed during the warm-up. Initial feedback then showed particularly strong performance. The Yamaha pilot regretted that this solution had not been tested earlier. According to him, this tire could even have improved qualifying performance. “Honestly, I think that even in Qualifying, at least for us at Yamaha, we could have made a better attempt with this tire than with the soft,” he said.
The Frenchman notably found better stability of his Yamaha in several acceleration phases. “In accelerations, like at turns 2, 4, 5 and in the last turn, the bike moved a bit less and accepted more power. We should have tested it earlier.”
For Fabio Quartararo, the same observation applies to the entire grid. “In the end, nobody tested it. I think so everyone has regrets and everyone could have done a little better […] everyone would have been faster.”
The drivers ultimately opted for the same tire combination in the race, with a medium tire and a hard tire. Before the start, Johann Zarco was moreover penalized for restarting his Honda after his crash during warm-up. A penalty that further complicated the prospects for the Frenchman in the Grand Prix.
Fabio Quartararo saves four points, Johann Zarco retires late in the race
The main race quickly took a different turn for the two Azure pilots. Fabio Quartararo lost several positions in the early laps. On the second lap, the Yamaha pilot was in 14th place before dropping another position. The race then seemed to be slipping away for “El Diablo”, ultimately forced to manage a consumption problem that appeared during the race. “From the seventh or eighth lap, I had consumption problems,” the Frenchman explained after the finish. “So I had to manage to the end. It wasn’t fun, but I think the pace was good. I’m happy with my riding.”
This constraint greatly limited the possibilities for the Yamaha pilot. On the straights as well as on certain turns, Fabio Quartararo had to reduce throttle opening in order to reach the finish. “At turns 2 or 3, I was also at 70%. I made a few small mistakes, because the braking points are set when you arrive at full throttle before braking. When you’re only at 70%, you know you can brake later, but you don’t know exactly by how much.”
Despite this difficulty, the Nice native managed to keep a place in the points. The Yamaha pilot finishes 12th and leaves Motegi with four points. “I had fun on some parts of the circuit, but overall, it wasn’t very pleasant,” he summed up.
For Johann Zarco, the scenario was much more complicated. After being penalized, the Frenchman completed two long penalty laps during the race. After moving to 12th and then 11th place, Johann Zarco gradually fell back. On lap 10, the LCR Honda pilot was in 15th position, notably after an error by Franco Morbidelli. However, the situation did not improve later in the race.
On lap 21, Johann Zarco crashed for the fourth and final time of the weekend. This new off-track excursion definitively ended his race at Motegi.
The MotoGP paddock is now heading to Indonesia and the Mandalika circuit next weekend. Fabio Quartararo has memories of a contrasting weekend there last season, with a soft tire choice that notably allowed him to display interesting race pace.
“Last year, we were the only ones running the soft, because the medium was almost impossible to warm up on the right side for us, recalls the Yamaha pilot. On the other hand, we were quite competitive, especially in race pace, but we’re going to try to do better.”
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