Zarco third; ‘rear grip’ where Ducati is mainly losing to Yamaha

Johann Zarco will begin the Catalan MotoGP race from third on the grid behind fellow Ducati rider Jack Miller and pole man Fabio Quartararo. 

It was a timely last lap effort in qualifying for the Pramac rider as he found the ‘feeling’ he wanted when following another rider - just like Friday practice. 

During free practice Zarco was seen following championship leader Quartararo on a couple occasions, while in Q2 it was the KTM of Brad Binder. 

Why is this important? Well, Zarco is struggling to achieve these fast laps alone this weekend, but when following another rider the Ducati potential is ‘incredible’ according to the Frenchman. 

Following qualifying, Zarco said: "Pretty happy, the last lap was pretty good. Really... to have someone in front helped to make a huge difference because we are still missing something on the bike that alone is pretty difficult to have the feeling. 

"But then when you follow someone the bike has a potential that is incredible and you enjoy so much on the bike. 

"So, I could have this in the last session with the last tyre like this. Brad [Binder] was going pretty fast and we almost fight a little bit. 

"I overtook him in turn ten and I think this help me to do this fast lap. First game down for the qualifying, then second game for the race will be a different story."

Yamahas and Ducatis locking out the front row is nothing new as it’s been a major theme of 2021 so far. 

The two manufacturers have very different strengths, but with the two-time Moto2 champion previously having rode for Yamaha and being able to study Quartararo of late, Zarco believes ‘rear grip’ is where Ducati is mainly losing out compared to the Yamaha. 

"Simply I will only say it is rear grip, but it’s not so easy because it’s always a combination of many things, but I think our base is always getting much and much better," said Zarco.