Spaniard Pol Espargaro (KTM) will start on pole for the Styrian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday, with Frenchman Johann Zarco signing an unexpected 3rd place after being penalized on Friday for irresponsible riding. Due to this sanction, Zarco will however have to start from the pit lane for the race, losing the benefit of his achievement in qualifying on Saturday.
"I am very happy. I expected rain to have an advantage but I still manage to be on the front row, ”Zarco said after qualifying under stormy and hot weather. He had to be operated on Wednesday on the right scaphoid, a wrist bone, after the accident during the previous Austrian Grand Prix for which he was held responsible and consequently sanctioned. “I expected my wrist to hurt more, but when I realized it wasn't I was able to push for a few laps. But it's true that afterwards it becomes painful again, ”he said.
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The leader of the world championship, the French Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha-SRT), will only start in 9th position just behind his runner-up, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati). He achieved the 10th fastest time on Saturday but will gain a place due to Zarco's penalty. The surprise of these qualifications also came from Takaaki Nakagami (Honda-LCR), author of the second fastest time. This is the first time that the 28-year-old Japanese will start from the front row since racing in MotoGP.
Another victory for KTM?
The KTMs, which are racing in Austria “at home”, are therefore showing their claim to another victory on Sunday after winning for the first time in the premier class two weeks ago at the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. This is the first pole position for Pol Espargaro who has never won in MotoGP.
"I didn't think we could take pole and that a first or second row would already be good for us," said the Spaniard. He is due to leave KTM at the end of the season to join Honda, whose star driver Marc Marquez, defending champion and six-time world champion, is currently sidelined due to an injury sustained in the first event of the season.
Veteran Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) will only set off very far on Sunday for the race, which will start at 2 p.m. (12 p.m. GMT). 14th time, he will only be in the 5th row and could well be caught up by Johann Zarco during the race.
The Italian had severely criticized the French driver after the accident last Sunday. The latter had clashed with another Italian driver, Franco Morbidelli during braking. Their crazy motorcycles then disintegrated by bouncing on the track, only narrowly avoiding that of Rossi, 41, seven-time world champion in the queen category of motorcycle speed. For Fabio Quartararo, the only good news is that his main rival for the championship has not qualified much better than him.
After four rounds, Dovizioso is 11 points behind the Frenchman who won the first two races of the season, the Italian winning the Austrian Grand Prix at the same Spielberg circuit a week ago.
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