Johann Zarco, Honda’s best rider: he feared losing control

Johann Zarco missed out on direct qualification for Q2; however, in Saturday’s MotoGP Sprint at Spielberg, the LCR Honda rider was able to make amends by answering his most pressing question.

Bernhard M. Höhne

MotoGP

19.09.2026 - 21:48

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

Zarco vor Aldeguer und Binder
© gerhard schiel

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Johann Zarco

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“I’m fast here, mind you, but those few tenths of a second that would put me ahead of my qualifying time… I’ve no idea where to find them.” A question Johann Zarco asked himself on the starting grid for the MotoGP Sprint at the Red Bull Ring, where he started from 10th position. He added: “Overtaking is particularly difficult on this circuit.”

The Frenchman managed to pull off some overtaking manoeuvres in the sprint: as early as the first lap, the LCR rider was able to pass Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). On the 12th of 14 laps, the 36-year-old overtook Brad Binder, moving up from ninth to eighth place. Seventh place for the rider with number 5 was secured following Pedro Acosta’s crash. Zarco also set the seventh-fastest lap of the race.

Saturday morning began for the two-time Moto2 World Champion by rectifying a mistake from Friday: “I was gutted that I couldn’t make it straight into Q2. But I was confident that we’d be good enough on Saturday. Tenth place in qualifying was very good, but seventh place in the race is even better!”

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Johann Zarco

Zarco mostly the best Honda rider

So far this race weekend, Zarco has also been the fastest Honda rider in four out of five sessions. His seventh place in the sprint comes on the third race weekend since his return from injury: “I was hoping for three points. For that to happen, everything has to go perfectly for us. We were good enough!” One challenge was that he was stuck behind KTM veteran Brad Binder for most of the race: “Being so close behind the rider in front means you can quickly lose control. Either because of the front tyres heating up or aerodynamic turbulence. I managed to avoid that.”

After crossing the finish line, the evergreen rider drew hope not only from his finishing position: “The fact that we were only 5 seconds off the winner’s time is also positive.” Zarco is planning his next move for Sunday’s Grand Prix: “Finishing better than seventh – why not? I’m hoping for that. On Sunday, everyone will have to pace their race differently.” A number of riders opted for the medium-hard rear tyre in the Sprint race, hoping to capitalise on the extra experience gained for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Zarco was no exception: “The fact that I’m so quick on the medium here gives me hope for Sunday.”

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