Zarco accepts the penalty following a qualifying incident: “The penalty is justified”

Fifth place in the first practice session on Friday at Misano, followed by eighth place in qualifying to secure direct entry into Q2: the start to the MotoGP San Marino weekend went exactly to plan for Johann Zarco. Saturday, however, proved less successful for the LCR rider: “I’m frustrated with the morning, because I didn’t manage to build on the great performance from Friday.” The negative trend had already become apparent in FP2, and in qualifying the Frenchman was once again unable to secure a place in the top ten.

The biggest setback then came after qualifying: the 36-year-old has been handed a grid penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix after obstructing Marco Bezzecchi on a fast lap at the start of Q2. For Zarco, this was yet another cause for frustration: “The second row of the grid was definitely possible, but I missed out on it. The fact that I didn’t notice Bez was my mistake. The penalty is justified.” As a result, the rider with number 5 will have to start Sunday’s race from 14th on the grid instead of 11th.

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano

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Johann Zarco

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Fans

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Streckenposten

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Franco Morbidelli

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Francesco Bagnaia

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Diogo Moreira

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Jorge Martin

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Toprak Razgatlioglu

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Franco Morbidelli

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Raúl Fernández

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Fabio Quartararo

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Luca Marini

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Pedro Acosta

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Jack Miller

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Alex Márquez führt das Feld an

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Enea Bastianini

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Das Bike von Luca Marini

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Fabio Quartararo

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Joan Mir

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Fabio di Giannantonio

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Diogo Moreira

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Pol Espargaró

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Marc Márquez

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Qualifying - Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi & Fermin Aldeguer

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Sprint - Marco Bezzecchi, Marc Márquez & Jorge Martin

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Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano

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The popular Frenchman finished 10th in the Sprint race, just behind his team-mate Luca Marini. However, a push for the final points-scoring position was out of reach for the two-time Moto2 World Champion: “I put in a few good laps. But not good enough to catch Marini. I was hoping to pick up another point, but we had some difficulties.” Difficulties that stemmed from his tyre choice. Zarco was one of the riders who switched from the soft to the medium rear tyre whilst still on the grid.

A choice that didn’t pay off, but one Zarco could live with: “It’s like boxing. When you’re fighting, you have to accept that you’ll have to take a few knocks now and then. You don’t fancy it, but it’s part of the game. And even though we didn’t score any points – we did get some good data,” concluded the veteran rider, who had been sidelined by injury for a long time, summing up his day.

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13.09.2026 - 09:35