Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco had a meeting this weekend for the 15th Grand Prix of the season MotoGP. Performing well in turn, the two riders from the Alpes-Maritimes generally dominated the Spielberg circuit.
In Austria on the Spielberg track, the start of the weekend was very encouraging for Johann Zarco. In the rhythm, the Honda LCR rider was aiming for direct passage to Q2 while Fabio Quartararo was heading for a difficult weekend. But quickly things reversed to see the Nice rider qualify directly to Q2, leaving his compatriot to go through Q1. No reason to panic for the Cannes rider who brilliantly extracted himself from Q1 to compete with Fabio Quartararo in the second part of qualifying. In the end, Fabio Quartararo finished 9th and Johann Zarco 10th, separated by only nine thousandths of a second. Enough to foresee a fine all-French battle for the rest of this Austrian weekend.
A very solid sprint for Johann Zarco
At the start of the sprint race yesterday, both riders quickly lost a position. Fighting in the first lap, Johann Zarco managed to recover his starting position after a good battle with Brad Binder and Fabio Giannantonio. In good rhythm, the Cannes rider managed to catch up to the South African’s KTM. Very far ahead of other Honda riders, he completed the 14 laps of this sprint in 7th position. A very encouraging result (his best since the Barcelona sprint, Editor’s note) as confirmed by the LCR rider: “I’m very happy. To score three points in the sprint, you have to do everything perfectly! That’s already very good and I’m really pleased. I confirmed today (yesterday) in the race the good feelings I had the day before. I was immediately fast on this circuit, so I’m very happy, and finishing five seconds behind the winner is very positive too.”
On the other side, despite a good start to the weekend, the speed wasn’t there on Saturday afternoon. Attacking throughout, Fabio Quartararo showed his detractors that motivation was still very much present. Unable to keep up with the men ahead of him, the Nice rider settled for 12th place at the finish. An interesting performance that raised hopes for Sunday’s race. “The race was good,” said the Yamaha rider in the press conference. “I didn’t expect to finish in the top 10, we knew that. I knew Johann (Zarco), Brad (Binder) and (Fermín) Aldeguer were faster. We know that (Enea) Bastianini is always super strong in the race. I think this is a deserved position […] Tomorrow (today), it will be really difficult, especially for the tires.”
Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha in free fall
In perfect conditions, the challenge of this Grand Prix was managing tire degradation. Slightly off the racing line at the end of the first corner, Fabio Quartararo made an excellent start by taking 7th place. Overtaken by Fabio Giannantonio before the end of the first lap, the Nice rider was forced to let a rider behind him pass following his overtake at the first corner.
On the other hand, Johann Zarco found himself far back at the end of the first lap. In his compatriot’s wheel, the Cannes rider got trapped in the chicane that followed, losing all his speed. A racing incident that saw him drop to 17th place. What followed was a crazy recovery. Twelfth after just five laps, the Honda LCR rider confirmed his fine ambitions from the start of the weekend. Much faster than the competition in the first third of the race, the N°5 seemed capable of climbing very high in the standings.
Fabio Quartararo managed his pace well in ninth place. Despite giving up about ten km/h to the competition, the Nice rider made the difference in sectors two and three to maintain the gap before the straights. But as the laps progressed, the pace of the N°20 Yamaha deteriorated. An opportunity that Johann Zarco, very much back in contention after his start, didn’t miss to catch up with his compatriot and overtake him a little after the midpoint of the race. A point of no return for Fabio Quartararo, who was no longer able to keep up. The Yamaha, once again far from the competition, was inexorably falling back in the standings. Out of the points with seven laps to go, the Nice rider could only hope for crashes ahead of him to return to the top 15…
In a very calm race won by Pedro Acosta for his first MotoGP victory, Fabio Quartararo finished 17th, very far from the competition but ahead of his teammates. In Johann Zarco’s box, satisfaction with a 10th place finish could hint at a slight regret, as the Honda LCR seemed capable of doing better.
Next meeting for the MotoGP grid in Japan, at Motegi, in two weeks. Johann Zarco will try to confirm the good feelings shown in Austria, while Fabio Quartararo will need to get back on track in the race with his Yamaha playing at home.
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