MotoGP: Johann Zarco impresses on his return in Aragon

The Aragon Grand Prix was marked by the return of Johann Zarco nearly four months / three months after his serious crash in Barcelona. For his comeback, the Cannes driver showed that he will have to be reckoned with until the end of the season!

The Aragon Grand Prix was first marked by Johann Zarco’s return to track, more than three months after his serious Barcelona crash. As early as Friday, the Honda-LCR driver had surprised by securing direct access to Q2, before confirming Saturday morning with a ninth position in qualifying, his third best result of the season. He explained that he had regained a margin of riding that he could no longer develop when he was racing consecutively: “I did develop my riding this weekend… Truth be told, I think I’ve gained that little bit of margin.”

A few hours later, Johann Zarco finished the sprint in ninth place, securing a point despite a complicated first lap, the pressure from Jack Miller late in the race and managing a soft rear tyre losing performance. The Frenchman acknowledged a certain restraint in his riding, far from the more aggressive approach he had in Catalonia: “There was some edge, but I felt that if I tried to do too much, it would work against me. So I accepted the day’s pace.” His return to the paddock, welcomed by a guard of honour, also reminded him of what he had feared losing: “I thought: damn, if I don’t race this year, the 350 is done.” An adrenaline rush that he found with relief.

On the other hand, Fabio Quartararo’s weekend got bogged down from Friday in a series of technical complications. Yamaha had him test several upgrades without real success, depriving him of usual preparation and a stable rhythm. The 2021 world champion mentioned sensations that were “very bad”, with no prospect of improvement. Saturday, Fabio Quartararo failed to escape Q1 and had to settle for 17th place, equalling his worst result of the season already seen in Jerez and Mugello. His sprint then lasted only four laps, interrupted by a spectacular engine failure, his Yamaha releasing thick white smoke. “I think it showed that it was a mechanical problem!” he joked on Canal+. He explained that he lost places right from the start because of a launch control issue, then declining power until the engine exploded: “In the straight, I felt the engine’s power starting to drop. So I knew that at some point or another, it was going to blow.” A scenario he had already experienced in Thailand earlier in the year: “It happened to me in Thailand, so I knew something wasn’t right.”

This failure occurred in an already tense mechanical context for Yamaha, competing in the D category of concessions and having ten engines per driver. Before Aragon, Fabio Quartararo had already used seven, a total only matched by Toprak Razgatlioglu. “Honestly, I don’t know how many engines we have, but I think there aren’t many left”, he acknowledged, hoping that the one that gave out was a bloc at the end of its life: “Throughout the weekend, this bike has been really slow… I hope it was an engine with high mileage.” A new engine was to be fitted for the race, but Fabio Quartararo saw no improvement: “There’s no information to gather… Even with the warm-up, we have nothing to add.”

With technical difficulties, lack of pace and a Yamaha lacking solutions, the Frenchman approached the rest of the weekend without real margin, in contrast to Johann Zarco who, despite his penalties, was gradually finding his bearings and the intensity of MotoGP.

The Maralpins, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco, fighting for points

This Sunday, at the start of 23 laps of the Grand Prix, things didn’t go better for Fabio Quartararo. After a clean start, the Nice driver made a mistake in the first lap, dropping him to last position. Ahead, Johann Zarco was having fun at the start of the race with a nice battle against Jack Miller for 11th position.

Behind his teammate, the Cannes driver had to complete his double long lap as planned, relegating him to 18th position, two places behind Fabio Quartararo who had recovered from his early race mistake. The two Maralpin drivers fighting for points found themselves one behind the other on track after Johann Zarco’s overtake on Pol Espargaro. Lap after lap, the Honda LCR driver was catching up with his Maralpin compatriot, who was battling with the other Yamaha riders ahead of him. Except the duel never happened. In the final third of the race, Fabio Quartararo completely gave up, probably due to a new technical problem on his bike.

Last by more than six seconds from the second-to-last position, the Nice driver could hope for nothing this weekend. All hopes therefore rested on the comeback driver! At the point threshold, Johann Zarco unfortunately failed to maintain the pace to attempt to regularly chase the 15th place point. However, he benefited from Toprak Razgatlioglu’s fall ahead of him to finish 15th and take a new point. But the essential was elsewhere for the Cannes driver, who reassured himself after his long absence.

No doubt that, Grand Prix after Grand Prix, consistency should return very quickly. Perhaps even as soon as San Marino on the weekend of September 13.