Johann Zarco (Honda) feared a dark MotoGP shadow

Following a strong qualifying session, Johann Zarco started the first short race in Qatar from seventh on the grid – and was once again by far the dominant force in the Honda camp. The experienced but ever-highly-motivated rider from Cannes crossed the line in 5th place. Zarco was aware of the lucky breaks he’d had, but was nonetheless able to speak confidently about his performance.

“Fifth place is a very good result, even though I gained a few places because of other riders’ crashes,” said Zarco, referring to Bagnaia’s spectacular crash and Marco Bezzecchi, who also slid off following a collision. Both rivals were ahead of the Frenchman on the customer Honda at the time of the crashes, as well as in Q2.

Zarco continued: “I certainly benefited from the race being stopped as well. It helped me, because the first start wasn’t so good, whereas the second was very, very good. I’m also glad that I managed to restart with my concentration fully refocused. I had a brief flashback to Catalunya, but now, without the pain and adrenaline, it wasn’t a problem. My pace at the start was very high; I was surprised at how well I could keep up with the top three.”

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Katar

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Paddock

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Streckenposten

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Marc Márquez & Jorge Martin

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Pol Espargaró

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Johann Zarco

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Francesco Bagnaia

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Raúl Fernández

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Cal Crutchlow

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Enea Bastianini

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Lorenzo Savadori

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Jorge Martin

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Luca Marini

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Iker Lecuona

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Der Start des Rennens

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Franco Morbidelli

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Raúl Fernández

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Pedro Acosta

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Maverick Viñales

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Ai Ogura

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Diogo Moreira

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Fabio di Giannantonio

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Pedro Acosta

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Qualifying - Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi & Fabio di Giannantonio

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Jorge Martin

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Fabio di Giannantonio

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Marc Márquez

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Sprint - Fabio di Giannantonio, Marc Márquez & Jorge Martin

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Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Katar

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“I then considered attacking ‘Diggia’ for third place, but I didn’t want to make a mistake under any circumstances,” explained the 36-year-old. Then things got exciting. “Raul then overtook me at Turn 12, and I had to straighten the bike up. Immediately afterwards, I saw a dark shadow – for a moment I thought another rider was about to fly past me. It was Acosta, but he was further away than I thought, and he had everything under control. After that scare with the shadow, I lost a bit of time, but managed to hold on to my position. I’m happy, but I’m afraid it’ll be tough racing there when the distance is more than double.”

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The prospect of the Grand Prix doesn’t yet fill the Honda rider, who has been out with injury for a long time, with confidence. “In the first few laps on fresh tyres, my pace is very high – good enough to be in the top five. But the speed takes a lot out of me, the rear tyre is under too much strain, and I still have no idea how that’s going to work in the Grand Prix.”

Ahead of the third-last Grand Prix race of the season, the former champion finds himself in a hopeless 17th place in the standings due to his long absence. Zarco is nine points behind Franco Morbidelli, 22 points behind his team-mate Moreira and 23 points behind his compatriot Fabio Quartararo, who is not competing in the Qatar desert as a Yamaha rider.