Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Johann Zarco delivered a master class performance today to clinch a superb second pole position in his rookie MotoGP season. The French star progressed through to Q2 courtesy of his FP2 time, and here, he battled against the drying yet slippery track, before storming to the top on his penultimate lap. Tomorrow, the highly impressive rookie seeks to scoop his second podium of the year at Yamaha’s home Grand Prix. Danilo Petrucci and Marc Marquez were second and third.
Johann Zarco
“I am so happy about this pole position. The team and I did some great work since FP1. There, it was raining all the time, and I think that I improved the feeling of the bike a lot, plus I have grown up in this condition. For qualifying, it was a bit different because the track was drying, but not enough to use the slick tyres. However, I knew that I could feel really good and try things in order to be faster than my opponents in these conditions. It worked and I am so happy for that. Now, I need to use this opportunity to stay in front, whether it rains or not, and do the best race that I can and I will dream about the podium.”
Does @JohannZarco1 remember when he first performed his now famous backflip celebration? ?
What chances of seeing it tomorrow?
MotoGPFanQ pic.twitter.com/XPX4VZ34po
— MotoGP™??? (@MotoGP) October 14, 2017
Danilo Petrucci
“I’m very happy because I didn’t expect it. This morning the feeling wasn’t perfect and I couldn’t be as fast as I hoped. In qualifying, we made a very good strategy by making the most of the time available. It’s a pity that I made a mistake on one of the last corners otherwise I could have finished with the pole position. But it doesn’t matter. The front row start is very good and starting ahead is very important in this circuit. I am very confident for tomorrow”.
Marc Marquez
“The result is good but clearly the slicks today weren’t the right choice, as it was a bit too early for them. Anyway, you always have to look at the positive side of things, which in this case, firstly is that we’re still on the front row, as we had already done a very good lap time on rain tyres; and secondly is that we managed to understand a few things in case of a flag-to-flag race. I’m also happy I saved a crash when I set my fastest time and avoided my team missing dinner tonight! I think we’ve had a good weekend so far, being able to do well in every session in the wet, keeping a fast pace in quite challenging conditions, and that’s very positive. Tomorrow it looks like it will rain again, but we’ll see; we could also have mixed conditions, and in that case, we will have to be ready for every situation”.
When @marcmarquez93 finishes behind and asks an autograph to @Petrux9 ????#JapaneseGP @MotoGP @HRC_MotoGP @pramacracing pic.twitter.com/0LsmDaWQHB
— Pramac Racing MotoGP (@pramacracing) October 14, 2017
