Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco were guests at a press conference with Grand Prix Le Mans promoter Claude Michy, to be held on May 16th. The two French riders also spoke about the return of Marc Marquez.
Zarco is confident that the Spanish champion will race in Qatar: “He will already be there for the group photos and, as he is already on the bike, he will start cycling. In my opinion, he will be able to do it all weekend, and I hope that is for him because he has been waiting a long time. Mark has the ability to pick up his pace very quickly, unless his arm bothers him and, even though he is only small, I think he will still be able to go fast. However, if it goes over the limit, that could create some problems on the bone. Anyway, that’s how I think it is, because he’s someone who won’t give up.”
Johann believes Mark must not risk it: “He doesn’t have to prove he’s a fast cyclist. He’s an eight-time world champion and he’s the best right now, ” he continued. “It was better until last year. In Jerez, it was something because of Quartararo that Marquez left the game because Fabio started ahead and Marc made a small mistake. Then he went out of his way to get over it and, when he went crazy about it, we all watched with a smile. He overcame it from fifteenth to second, and this proved to be his head and shoulders above the rest. Will it return to normal after a year off? I think so, but it doesn’t have to prove it. It just needs to heal well. He also needs to get pressure from fans and the media, because he’s a star.”
Quartararo also plans to find Marquez on the way: “I think so. We don’t know how his arm is doing, but I think he has some time to rest. We know very well that Mark has a lot of experience. He’s an eight-time, six-time world champion in the MotoGP, so even if he didn’t do the tests, we know that even if he had problems on Friday, he’ll be there on Saturday and Sunday. I think his return is a good thing for the tree. It really helped me in my first year because I took it as a reference and tried to keep up with the pressure of my boundaries. I think seeing it at the start of the competition is something good that will impress many riders, myself included, as it will be an added incentive.”