Second consecutive weekend of Moto GP racing. Thailand hosts the discipline, but what does the “Land of Smiles” have in store for our two athletes from the Alpes-Maritimes?
It is at the Buriram International Circuit that the 22 best Moto GP riders in the world meet. The championship remains tight with two races to go, even though Jorge Martin seems to maintain a good lead over his rival Francesco Bagnaia. Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco, on their part, are fighting to finish the season in the best possible way.
An Error that Costs Dearly
It’s a positive start to the weekend for Fabio Quartararo. He clocks the tenth-fastest time in Free Practice 1. However, the practice sessions were a bit disrupted. Although the rider was in the top 5 for most of the session, an error by his team putting worn tires for the last timed laps changed everything. The lack of grip also remains a problem: “five years ago, I did the same lap time as today with a bike that was slower on the straight,” he told Canal+. He thus has to go through Q1. Free Practice 2 was more positive as he secured a sixth place, providing hope for the qualifications.
Speaking of qualifications, the Yamaha rider had a little scare in Q1 with a narrowly avoided fall. He still finished it in first position, something that hadn’t happened since 2019. He then clocked the sixth fastest time, starting in P6 for the two races.
Regarding the sprint race, he had a good start but was quickly overtaken by Álex Márquez. Unfortunately, a collision with Franco Morbidelli caused him to lose grip at the rear of his bike. He dropped to eleventh place on the leaderboard, just before his fellow countryman. A tight pack and a significant lack of pace made Fabio Quartararo fall to fifteenth place in the second lap. He also received a warning for track limits on the following lap. Some overtakes and Pedro Acosta’s fall in lap 4 allowed him to reclaim twelfth place. He continued his climb by overtaking Aleix Espargaró on the sixth lap. Three laps later, he overtook Jack Miller to enter the top 10, finishing tenth in this race.
Fabio Quartararo seemed to have an electronic problem on his bike during the formation lap. Still, it didn’t stop him from having an excellent start as he moved up to fourth place. A battle with Brad Binder and the Nice native erupted in the second lap. Brad Binder managed to pass in the fourth lap. Unfortunately, the race ended there for Fabio Quartararo after a contact with Franco Morbidelli made him fall. He managed to get back on track but remained at the last place. Franco Morbidelli received a long lap penalty for this incident. He thus finished sixteenth. But the rider doesn’t let it bring him down: “I think little by little, we’re finding positive points, even in the rain […] we can be satisfied with the pace we had today.”
The Best Result of the Season
As for Johann Zarco, he always lacks a little something more to enter the top 10. He only clocked the sixteenth-fastest time in Free Practice 1. The practice sessions were better as he finished tenth, thus directly accessing Q2. However, Free Practice 2 highlighted some concerns with only a seventeenth place. For the qualifications, he positioned twelfth on the grid for both races. Regarding the sprint race, he managed to maintain his position at the start. They all remained quite compact, which worked against the Cannes native who lost five places in one corner in the second lap, going down to P17. An overtake on Raúl Fernández and Maverick Viñales, as well as Pedro Acosta’s fall, moved him up to fourteenth place. Like his compatriot, he eventually overtook Aleix Espargaró and then Jack Miller, finishing twelfth.
The race was spiced up by rain. Johann Zarco managed to maintain his position at the start despite his mid-grid position. He even overtook Aleix Espargaró. A few corners later, he managed to take the ninth position. At the end of the second lap, a minor mistake made him lose his advance, dropping to thirteenth then seventeenth. Marco Bezzechi’s fall on the fourth lap allowed the Cannes native to regain a position. Raúl Fernández and Franco Morbidelli also fell, putting Johann Zarco in fourteenth place. He managed to overtake Luca Marini and then Álex Márquez. Marc Márquez fell in the fifteenth lap. He positioned himself eleventh after overtaking Joan Mir. Alex Rins and Augusto Fernández also fell. In the last lap, he managed to overtake Aleix Espargaró and finished eighth.
It’s his best result of the season. Despite this, he remained frustrated not to have had the bike to do more, but assured: “I think I have pinpointed the area where we need to evolve.”
