The French johann zarco (Ducati-Pramac), who will start on Sunday from the first position on the grid at the MotoGP British Grand Prix after achieving pole position this Saturday, dreams of his first victory in the premier category of motorcycling.
Zarco will be accompanied onmingo, at 12.00, in the first line for the Spanish Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) and the Australian Jack Miller (Ducati).
Before the twelfth round of the twenty of the World Cup, Zarco is in third position in the championship, 58 points behind his compatriot Fabio Quarterlyleader, who will start from fourth position.
In the second row with Quartararo, will be the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), fourth in the world championship, and the Spanish Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia), second in the championship, 21 points behind Quartararo.
This is the second time this season that the 32-year-old Zarco has set the fastest qualifying time, his eighth pole position in the premier class.
With a time of 1 minute, 57 seconds and 767 thousandths, the French driver smashed the circuit record, held by the Spaniard Marc Márquez (1’58.168), who continues to recover after a new operation on his arm.
Zarco continues looking for his first victory in the speed elite, the MotoGP.
With four podium finishes in 2022 and four in 2021, the two-time world champion in the Moto2 category (2015, 2016) is getting closer. However, his thirteenth place at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of June suggests otherwise.
In the last five weeks, during the summer break, Zarco has been able to prepare for the second half of the World Cup.
Quartararo, who won his first world title on this circuit last year, will try to get back on track to win the trophy at the end of the season.
Sanctioned for causing contact with Espargaró at the last Dutch Grand Prix when trying to overtake the Spaniard, the Yamaha rider will have to accept a ‘long lap’ penalty, which consists of taking one of the curves of the circuit along a delimited path so that be longer.
Quartararo will have to be careful when he returns to his normal path, since he will have to avoid crossing an opponent.
«The number one objective is to make a good start, without necessarily wanting to be in the lead, not to rush like I did in Assen (…) I am going to attack, we are in the middle of the championship and I have no reason to be at the defensive,” Quartararo estimated.
For his part, Espargaró will have to recover after suffering a hard fall in the third free practice session this Saturday. The Catalan was declared fit to compete in qualifying after the circuit’s medical center examined the driver’s health.
Like a warrior, Espargaró donned his helmet to continue fighting for pole position, after setting the fastest time in the third test session.
