Marc Márquez is adapting to a new reality in MotoGP, now with Ducati, and has mentioned the Qatar track as an important point to determine some differences between his current bike and the previous one, and Johann Zarco, who has taken the opposite route, admits he is curious to test the Honda precisely at a circuit where the Spaniard had increased difficulties.
The Frenchman was asked about some of Marc Márquez’s comments, in which he said he would struggle to be at his best in Qatar with the Honda due to the nature of the bike, with the new LCR rider responding like this:
– The new bike is totally different, you can have different feedback and that also depends a lot on the rider’s sensations. I wouldn’t say that because he was struggling before and (now) it might be a better track to test on. […] It will be interesting to compare.
As a curiosity, here’s the record of Marc Márquez and Johann Zarco at Losail in the last five GPs:
2023: Marc Márquez was 11th (in the long race and the Sprint) and Johann Zarco was 10th in the Sprint and 12th in the long race;
2022: Marc Márquez was 5th and Johann Zarco 8th;
2021: Marc Márquez did not race, Johann Zarco was 2nd;
2020: there was no GP;
2019: Marc Márquez was 2nd, Johann Zarco (KTM) was 15th;
2018: Marc Márquez was 2nd, Johann Zarco (Yamaha Tech3) was 8th;
2017: Marc Márquez was 4th, Johann Zarco did not finish the race