Zarco picks Marquez as the rider to beat at Sachsenring, despite recent crashes
After finishing fourth in the sprint race at Mugello, Zarco went one better during today’s Italian MotoGP after finishing behind Francesco Bagnaia and teammate Jorge Martin.
With fantastic race pace in both the sprint and Grand Prix, especially in the latter stages, Zarco’s impressive run of results has kept him within touching distance of second in the standings.
- Marc Marquez: “Friday Mir, yesterday Rins, today me - I was lucky”
- Bagnaia: “If we look at the past I’m always one of my main opponents”
Whatever the track Ducati seems to be a good bet for at least one win as several of their riders have claimed victory already this season.
One of those who hasn’t done so however, is Zarco, which could change at Sachsenring although Marquez is expected to be the favourite given his stunning record.
Marquez has not been beaten in 11 years at Sachsenring - Fabio Quartararo won last season’s race while Marquez was absent - which is why Zarco brought up his name immediately when discussing next weekend’s races.
"It would be nice [to fight for the podium]," began Zarco. "I guess Marc [Marquez] who is fast on every track even if he has some mistakes or crashes in the race - in Sachsenring he will maybe have something extra that he always had in the past.
"He will be one to fight with and if I can be competitive I will be happy. It’s a different track and is a small one so we will have to find a different strategy.
"Pecco [Bagnaia], last year, was ready to fight for the victory but had a crash. There are so many riders that are already fast there."
Whether Zarco fights for a maiden MotoGP win or not, the Pramac rider should be one of the contenders for the podium, especially after his Mugello performance which he claims has given him a heap of confidence.
Zarco added: "Fighting for the podium yesterday [in the sprint] brought me good confidence. I knew that on Sunday with the medium rear tyre I could be more competitive.
"But starting in ninth position is always a bit tricky. The breaking point is not my strongest area so you have to calculate a lot to gain the position and not get overtaken by the others.
"I was happy to have the pace [that I did] and the others with the soft rear tyre were also pretty fast, like Luca Marini and Alex Marquez.
"I could not have an advantage on them but with Luca I knew he would want to fight for the podium.
"When I overtook him I did my best to focus and try to catch Jorge because he had the soft rear and maybe he would drop the pace. Trying to catch Jorge was a good way to try and have a little gap from Luca."
