After a week’s break, MotoGP is back in the United States for the third weekend of the season. But how did it go for the two French riders?
MotoGP continues its tour across the Atlantic. A week’s pause between the Argentine and the United States Grand Prix saw the world championship completely reignited. The start of the race was very chaotic with a crash, confusion following a safety car incident, and several riders changing tires as the rain stopped delayed the start.
All’s Well That Ends Well
The weekend began in the rain for free practice 1. Fabio Quartararo finished with the fourteenth-fastest time. He didn’t have many laps to set a time during practice and missed Q2 by 0.120 milliseconds. Thus, he had to go through Q1. In free practice 2, the bike seemed a bit faster as he clocked the seventh-fastest time. In qualifying, things started well with him posting the second-fastest time in Q1. However, he had a slight scare narrowly avoiding a crash. The qualifying session concluded with him in p11 on the starting grid.
In the sprint race, the Nice-born rider got off to a very good start, moving up to seventh at the first corner. Fabio Di Gianantonio made a mistake later on, allowing the Frenchman to advance to p6. He passed Morbidelli and Acosta went wide, giving him fourth place. He managed to close in on the leading trio in the final corner, but his bike clearly lacked the pace to catch them. He tried to hold on but made a small mistake, allowing Franco Morbidelli to pass him on the fourth lap. Mid-race, he lost fifth place to Di Gianantonio but engaged in a battle with the two riders. Despite good traction, he kept losing a bit of pace. He eventually held his position and finished sixth. On a circuit that is very physically demanding, one couldn’t help noticing him holding his arm during interviews.
Regarding the race, it started very poorly as Fabio Quartararo fell on the warm-up lap. With heavy rain again, a poor tire choice made him slide. With Jack Miller’s help, he managed to get back on and didn’t lose his grid position.
After a chaotic tire change following the cessation of rain, everyone resumed their positions. The Nice-born rider made another good start, moving into eighth place and then seventh by the end of the first lap. Pedro Acosta braked hard, initiating a three-way battle with Brad Binder. Unfortunately, he was the loser, dropping to P8. Fermín Aldeguer overtook him on the brakes. He continued to drop back with two overtakes, including by Johann Zarco on the fourth lap. He went wide on a corner and lost two more places, putting him in thirteenth. He gained a position after Marc Márquez’s crash but was then overtaken by Ai Ogura, dropping back to thirteenth. Due to a technical problem with Brad Binder on the fourteenth lap, Fabio Quartararo moved back up to P12. With the crash of Johann Zarco and Fermín Aldeguer, he re-entered the top 10 and finished the race in tenth place.
The rider from Nice remained disappointed with his performance: “A lot of little things happened that made for a pretty bad race […], but I take the positive that I had a fairly quick pace this weekend.”
Rainy Sunday, Happy Sunday?
Johann Zarco seemed to feel right at home in the rain during free practice 1, placing fourth directly. The performance was much less evident during practice with a disappointing p20. He also had to go through Q1. In free practice 2, he placed fourteenth. As for qualifying, it didn’t go as the Cannes-born rider would have liked. He recorded only the fifth-fastest time in Q1, thus not advancing to Q2. He lined up fifteenth on the grid.
For the sprint race, he didn’t get off to as good a start and lost a place. He found himself in a large pack of riders with a lot of battles. He managed to gain a few positions and found himself in p14. He eventually lost two positions, finishing in sixteenth place.
In the main race, Maverick Viñales stalled at the start. Zarco got off to a reasonably good start, finding himself in twelfth and then eleventh after an overtake. His climb continued throughout the laps and he overtook his compatriot Fabio Quartararo on the fourth lap for p10. He passed Fermín Aldeguer and Pedro Acosta’s crash allowed him to gain two positions. Marc Márquez’s crash on the ninth lap put Johann Zarco in seventh. A battle with Fermín Aldeguer lasted several laps. His pace collapsed towards the end of the race and he hit the limit by crashing on the seventeenth lap. He restarted but finished last, in seventeenth place.
