Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco can breathe easy! After a complicated return, the Maralpin riders in MotoGP were in Catalonia, a circuit that has served them well this year.
This Catalonian weekend was a breath of fresh air for the Maralpin riders. This 15th event of the MotoGP season in Barcelona saw our French riders perform well in qualifying on a circuit they know like the back of their hand. Fabio Quartararo started in second position between the Marquez brothers, confirming the positive trend seen in Hungary two weeks ago. Johann Zarco, whose contract was extended earlier this week, qualified 7th on the grid with high hopes of scoring some points at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
A solid sprint race for Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco
Makes a good start, the two Frenchmen didn’t lose any positions at the start. Passed at the braking of the first turn by Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta, Fabio Quartararo showed his class by regaining the two positions at the exit of the first corner. A textbook double overtaking allowed him to contest the sprint race at the front. Johann Zarco, cautious when starting, managed to surprise Enea Bastianini a few corners later to take 6th place. An authoritative overtaking, as if to show that despite the incident in Hungary, the Cannois wasn’t affected in his way of battling with other riders.
Very aggressive, Fabio Quartararo had to defend against Marc Marquez, even coming into contact. The Niçois resisted well and recalled the historic duels he had with the Spanish champion in the 2020s. Unfortunately, the top speed problem of the Yamaha (he will test a new engine this Monday: Ed.) prevents “El Diablo” from maintaining his position on the straight. He lost two positions but managed to regain one in the first turn once again against Pedro Acosta.
Fabio Quartararo clung to the Marquez brothers in front of him to maintain his third place. A very good result was in the making, and even better when the race leader Alex Marquez crashed four laps from the end. A boon for the Niçois, achieving his career-best result in a sprint race with a second place. ““It’s been a while since I enjoyed early laps like these,” confessed the Niçois after receiving his medal at the finish. “It’s a big boost, especially for me, he added. “Mentally, I needed it.”
In the battle against the KTMs, Johann Zarco oscillated between the 5th and 8th places throughout the race. Lagging behind a trio of Austrian machines, the Cannois rider managed his race to resist the official Honda rider Lucas Marini behind him. Johann Zarco finished 7th, feeling mixed emotions: “I’m happy because it scores points, but it really bums me out. We’re doing the job, we start well, we qualify properly, and then I just have to watch them pull away, and that annoys me.”
A more complicated Sunday for Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco
This Sunday for the Barcelona Grand Prix, the start was less favorable for Fabio Quartararo. The Niçois wasn’t able to reclaim his second place like the previous day. He found himself in 4th position under pressure from Enea Bastianini.
Meanwhile, Johann Zarco made a solid start but in the battle for 5th place, he had to yield and found himself back in his starting position, 7th, just behind Lucas Marini. Less at ease compared to the previous day, Fabio Quartararo lost another position to Enea Bastianini, who was much faster than the Maralpin riders at the beginning of the race.
The faster of the two Azuréens seemed to be Johann Zarco. The Cannois managed to pass his “teammate” on the official Honda and catch up to his compatriot and friend. The two men engaged in a nice duel. Johann Zarco tried to leverage his top speed at the end of the straight but was blocked for five laps by the ultra-late braking of “El Diablo.” At the end of the first third of the race, the Honda LCR rider passed after a nice duel. An overtaking move that would lead to many others, due to the Yamaha’s lack of top speed.
But in trying to do too much to catch the riders ahead of him, Johann Zarco crashed going into Turn 10. A big disappointment as the Cannois seemed to be running at a very good pace.
Fabio Quartararo attempted to resist as best as he could against faster riders. Thanks to good tire management, the Azuréen rider managed to limit the damage by staying in 6th place but far from the leaders. On the positive side, the Niçois’ Yamaha was capable of catching up to the Honda of Lucas Marini ahead of him. With two laps to go, Fabio Quartararo managed to take 5th place and score significant points.
The next event is scheduled for next weekend in Misano, possibly with a new engine for Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha.
