Before going to the Sunday Ride Classic at the Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend, Freddie Spencer gave his point of view on the main lessons learned from the first Grand Prix of the season contested in Qatar.
“I thought it would be a battle between Márquez and Dovizioso, and maybe Valentino too, Freddie said.. It seemed to me, from his facial expressions and the things I saw, that Rossi looked pretty good and pretty comfortable.
But the surprise of qualifying and the start of the race came from Johann zarco. For me, he has the qualities required to win the World Championship, like in Moto2. He has the elite level of MotoGP, and the ability to perform exactly when he needs to, when you are under maximum pressure and perhaps not always in the best conditions.
“And he did it on Saturday on the final lap of Q2 with an incredible qualifying time of 1'53.680, breaking the lap record that had stood for 10 years, which in itself was a surprise to me . I know they talked about the qualifying tires, but still, 10 years is a long time for a lap record, considering how everything has improved over the years. What an incredible trick he did, and then Márquez was second.
“Once the race started and Johann came out, he showed that Zarco had matured over the last year at this level and was not intimidated in any way. He was there for 18 laps and then Dovizioso came and took the lead, so Johann fell back more than I thought. He then talked about that, how he had to save the right front tire and how he was having problems pushing the front end and going into corners. Zarco finished the race and he did a good job, he was in front for 18 laps, which shows that he is going to be there for the whole season. »
Freddie also gave his views to MCN et Motorsportmagazine.com, on the fantastic duel between Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso.
“The season will see another big battle between Marquez and Dovizioso,” Spencer said. “ It's very interesting. Marc is incredibly talented and aggressive, but Dovi has sorted out his mindset and is very methodical with his approach. He uses the strengths of the Ducati to the best of his ability. It comes down to Marc hanging on and Dovi looking comfortable at the pace they're running at, a continuation of the battles they had last season.
“You always expect an attack in the last corner from Marquez. This time he judged better than last year in Austria and Japan by not passing Dovi too deep. Dovi made it look so easy: He braked, got inside Marc and used the forces of the Ducati's acceleration and top speed. It made the appearance of victory quite comfortable.
“Like last year, Marquez must take advantage of the weekends when the Ducati is not as strong and Dovi does not feel comfortable. Either way, it's going to be tough for Marquez. »
Photos © Ducati and Repsol Media
