Johann Zarco believes he can challenge for rostrum positions at “every race” following his runners-up result in the Qatar Grand prix, describing his feeling with the Desmosedici as “unstoppable”.
Zarco rocketed from sixth on the grid to third on the run to the first corner thanks to Ducati’s efficient hole-shot device, before swiftly relieving factory Ducati counterpart Jack Miller of second soon after.
The Frenchman took the chequered flag second as top Ducati after passing long-time race leader Francesco Bagnaia late on, though a victory bid proved fruitless thanks to the sheer speed of Maverick Vinales’ Yamaha plus severe pressure from reigning MotoGP champion Joan Mir’s Suzuki in the closing tours.
Zarco rued rear tyre trouble that ultimately curtailed his win chances after pushing to try and catch the escaping Vinales, but that he was satisfied to finally score a first ever podium in Qatar across all classes.
“The weekend was pretty good, it was nice to get a good start and gain three positions from it,” said Zarco.
“I felt pretty comfortable so use the opportunity to pass Jack (Miller) and follow Pecco (Bagnaia), I had to stay focussed but I think that was the key part of my race to stay behind him being fast but at the same time saving my tyres.
“When Vinales came the pace went up, I tried to follow him after that and I had many laps of running second with some gap but I had to use a lot of my tyres and was spinning a lot the last few laps.
“I did the maximum to try and keep Joan Mir behind me, he overtook me but thanks to the engine I managed to save the second place again so I’m really happy.
“It’s my first ever podium in Qatar in any category so that makes me happy and I will enjoy it.”
The two-time Moto2 world champion conceded the “pretty huge” power advantage of the Desmosedici saved his second position having been initially passed by Mir at Turn 12 on the final tour, having been able to draft back past the Suzuki on the run to the line.
“We have a pretty huge advantage with the Ducati on the straight but Vinales was pretty strong and gain many meters on corner exit and the more laps we did the bigger the difference became so he did a great job and was consistent, so he was able to win,” explained Zarco.
“I knew Joan (Mir) was there on the last lap but I didn’t know about Pecco (Bagnaia), I wasn’t expecting someone to be there at the final corner but luckily Mir went a bit wide and thanks to the accelerating I could get the podium.
“I think I have the potential to get these kind of results every race with this bike, but I don’t want to think too much about it or I’ll lose myself.
“I’m already confident with the bike and team, and when you feel good with the bike it’s like it is unstoppable and we can go so fast, I want to be able to use this feeling to enjoy the season a lot.”
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