Zarco hopes to put ‘pressure’ on Ducati’s ‘main opponent’ Quartararo at Mugello

Ducati head into this weekend’s Italian MotoGP with a very real possibility of claiming their first ever podium lockout. 

It’s certainly a stat that comes as a surprise given their raft of race winning riders over the years and repeated success at certain circuits, however, it remains the case for Ducati.

But given Jack Miller’s consecutive wins at Jerez and Le Mans, and the impressive form of both Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco in 2021 - aided by Mugello being a very favorable layout for the Bologna bullets, it’s a result that could certainly come to fruition on Sunday. 

It would also be an outcome that helps Zarco in his quest to outscore championship leader Fabio Quartararo, which would allow him ‘to play my game’ as he described during the MotoGP pre-event press conference.

The podium finish in Le Mans and subsequent 20 points scored from his second place has put him back inside the top three of the championship. 

"Having a nice feeling on the Ducati and knowing the Ducati is quite competitive here, I try to come natural, but hoping to use pretty well the advantage of the bike," said Zarco. 

"The race in Le Mans also for me with the weather condition helped me a lot to catch a nice podium and 20 points in the championship. So I’m happy to be back in the top three and will try to stay there and keep gaining points on Fabio [Quartararo] to play my game. 

"Here [Mugello], just seeing the Ducati situation, if we can enjoy Pecco [Bagnaia], Jack [Miller] and me together and put some pressure on the main opponent that is Fabio on the Yamaha, this could be great for the championship."

A lot has been made this year about MotoGP bikes and the extreme speeds they are achieving - as demonstrated by Zarco breaking the all-time top speed record in Qatar.  

Zarco has the fastest recorded speed of 362.4 km/h (225.1) mph, while team-mate Jorge Martin and Jack Miller also beat Andrea Dovizioso’s previous record from Mugello 2018. 

But with Tuscan venue usually the home for such a record, the chances of Zarco potentially topping that are very high. 

Asked about this, the Frenchman added: "It would be nice to break it I think. We have the best bike in the world for this and everything is ready to go at this speed. 

"We have the bike good enough to break it, also the aerodynamics help us to go fast, help us also to slow down. 

"If we can beat the record from Qatar it will mean that Mugello is the best track for top speed, but also for the show which is nice and for me it would be pretty cool."