MotoGP was back this weekend after several weeks off. In Austria, the weekend was very complicated on a high-speed circuit.
It was already back-to-school time for Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo after a well-deserved month of vacation for the MotoGP riders. In Austria, the riders from the Maralpine region struggled to find their rhythm for the 13th race of the season. In the qualifying session, it was the Cannois Johann Zarco who fared best with a thirteenth place on the grid. Further back, Fabio Quartararo occupied only the 16th place.
It was difficult to hope for a good result starting from these positions. In the sprint race, after good starts, Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo found themselves respectively 10th and 12th. The Cannois, lacking pace, was quickly overtaken and distanced by Franco Morbidelli and ended up just ahead of his fellow Azurian. After a mistake by the Italian rider, both Frenchmen gained a position each. Then another after the withdrawal of Raùl Fernandez. With the medium tire, Johann Zarco didn’t manage to make a difference at the end of the race as he usually does but managed to hang on to score the point for ninth place and finish as the top Honda rider.
Fabio Quartararo, still struggling with his top speed, remained stuck behind his compatriot until the penultimate lap and the surge of the reigning world champion, Jorge Martin. The Niçois finishes 11th in this sprint race. In the post-race press conference, “El Diablo” lamented his machine which “doesn’t have the potential to overtake, at the Red Bull Ring more than anywhere else: in turn 3, I passed Morbidelli, at the beginning there are always a lot of people, etc… And putting first, second, third, he passed on the outside as if nothing happened. We clearly lack performance.” The Niçois points out a problem that Yamaha still cannot resolve despite the use of a multitude of settings: “we are four, each trying something, and no one finds any difference. I think it’s pointless to really change a lot of things […] We change a lot of things on the electronics, but even the stability control introduced here, we can’t use it because we don’t know how to use it.”
No miracle in the long race
Today during the Grand Prix, things went from bad to worse for Fabio Quartararo. Despite gaining a position at the start, the Niçois slowly but surely fell down the rankings. After only six laps, he was 18th, just ahead of his teammate who was facing the same difficulties. Taking advantage of race incidents, the Azurian finished his Grand Prix in 15th place. His only unfortunate consolation was finishing as the best Yamaha rider ahead of the other machines from the Japanese manufacturer that occupied the last places in the standings…
Johann Zarco also gained a position at the start (11th) without really being able to latch onto the riders in front of him at the beginning of the race. Notably, there was a nice battle with Alex Marquez in the first third of the race after the latter had to observe a “long-lap”. The Cannois on his LCR Honda once again found himself grappling with Franco Morbidelli, who found a gap as he did the day before. Ultimately, he ended a fairly frustrating weekend in twelfth place ahead of Lucas Marini’s second official Honda.
The next event is in Hungary on a new track next weekend on a circuit that should better suit Yamaha and perhaps Honda.
