In Australia, the Maralpine riders Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco experienced mixed fortunes on this 19th weekend of the MotoGP season.
The weekend started well in qualifying for “El Diablo.” The Nice native signed his fifth pole position this season on a circuit more suited to the characteristics of his Yamaha. In contrast, Johann Zarco, equipped with a new bike this weekend, was not as successful on the circuit where he claimed his first victory in MotoGP. Fifteenth in qualifying and struggling for several Grand Prix, the Cannes native seems bewildered in this exercise.
Starting with an average getaway during the sprint race, Fabio Quartararo lost five positions by the end of the first lap and was overtaken by Pedro Acosta, ending up 6th. Johann Zarco gained a few positions to take twelfth place and attempted to climb up. But there was no miracle after the 13 laps of this sprint. The Maralpins’ pace was not enough to challenge the riders ahead of them. At the finish line, Fabio Quartararo regretted his tire choice: “I made a mistake by opting for the medium. With the track temperatures, right from the first lap, I couldn’t ride. This morning, I felt good with this tire, so I tried, but it was like chewing gum. I take responsibility for my mistake.” Ultimately finishing 7th at the end of the sprint and completely alone, the Nice native remained quite optimistic for Sunday’s race.
A similar sentiment from Johann Zarco on his new Honda after his 12th place on Saturday: “I see that I can maintain the pace, but not enough. We’re trying big things because we feel far from the ideal, and that’s causing us some problems. I was happy with the setup. The focus, the desire, and the attack are there, but the pace and ease on the bike, I lost them a while ago. It takes time to get them back.”
A Sunday to Forget for Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco
The Grand Prix this Sunday was not a success for our Maralpine riders. Like the day before, Fabio Quartararo failed to capitalize on his pole position. Fourth at the first corner, the Nice native continued to tumble down on his Yamaha.
Johann Zarco got a good start. Battling against Joan Mir’s official Honda, the Cannes native did not seem very comfortable on his machine and eventually made a mistake in a fast corner. Fortunately, despite its physical consequences, this umpteenth fall (the twelfth this season combined with sprints and Grand Prix) began to affect morale: “I’m waiting for Malaysia to kind of reset the settings with two similar bikes in the box to regain a healthy feeling and stop feeling lost on setup, because it was tough this weekend to never have a correct feeling. Yes, I can describe different sensations but never in an area that pleases me, so that makes performance difficult,” Johann Zarco explained upon returning to the paddock.
Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo tried to hang on at the start of the race, this time with the right tires on his Yamaha. However, with lots of instability, the Nice native gradually fell away. Dropping from third to 11th position by the end of the race over about twenty laps, the conclusion was bitter: “It’s a bit annoying to always have the feeling that there’s always something. We know that after Moto2, there’s always a bit of difficulty, but such difficulties, I’ve never had them. We didn’t have any traction, I couldn’t stop. It’s quite strange to see what happened, it’s a bit exhausting.”
The next meeting will be next weekend in Malaysia.
