
As usual, Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac) had a mediocre start, as usual he closed in a cannonball and, as usual, got on the podium. On the Sachsenring circuit, in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, the French rider took third place in the German Grand Prix, seventh round of the MotoGP championship, on Sunday 18 June. This is his fourth podium finish this season, the third in a row.
The Frenchman, author in particular of the fastest lap in the race (1’21”225), benefited from the crash of Brad Binder in 19thAnd spin. He does it twice as he also surpasses the South African in the championship standings. He is now fourth, 51 points behind the leader, the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
Like the day before during the sprint race – a new shortened race format which now precedes each Grand Prix – the latter was beaten to the wire by Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac). The hand-to-hand relationship between the two riders was all the more intense as they share the same bike, the Ducati Desmosedici 2023, the latest evolution of the fastest bike on the grid.
The “Martinator”, the big winner of the weekend
The Bolognese firm again pulled off a pack coup by taking the top five spots (and eight of the top nine). If the season is still long, he is promised the constructors’ title. Nothing is played, however, for that of the pilots. Bagnaia is only 16 points ahead of Martin.
THE “Martinatore” – this is his nickname – he is the big winner of the weekend. At 25 he is establishing himself more and more as a serious rival for the Italian of the factory Ducati team. At just 34 points, another Italian, Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati-VR46), can also claim to join the fight for the title.
Johann Zarco, fifth in the sprint race the day before, this year can legitimately aim for a place in the top three or four in the standings. That would be his best result in seven MotoGP seasons, given that he has never managed to do better than 5Andin 2021. Above all, he can maintain the ambition of taking a first victory in a Grand Prix, he who has never won a single race since evolving into the queen category of speed.
The other Frenchman on the grid, Fabio Quartararo, was unable to do better than thirteenth place at the Sachsenring, after finishing sixteenth the day before the sprint. Handicapped by his Yamaha’s lack of power, he was never able to join the fight for victory. A situation that is repeated from race to race. The Nicoise has only achieved one podium finish this season, a third place at the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin on 16 April.
The 2021 world champion announced on Saturday 10 June the end of his collaboration with Éric Mahé, his agent since 2016. The latter had negotiated a contract extension with Yamaha in 2022. Quartararo is linked to the Japanese team until the end of 2024 .