Analysis – German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind –

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German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind

Analysis - German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind -

Johann Zarco suffered his first Grand Prix crash in Germany on the official KTM, a week after having voluntarily retired to the Netherlands because he was exhausted by his motorcycle. His teammate Pol Espargaro limits the damage, without however hiding the recurring difficulties of the Austrian brand.

Johann Zarco, KTM-Red Bull (19th in qualifying and crash during the race): "My start was quite correct, but the bike slipped a lot because the conditions were cooler (following the rain before the, editor’s note). I expected it and I tried to remain constant and limit the errors".

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  • German GP :
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“But I got into Turn 3 with maybe a little too much angle, and I lost the front end. It’s a shame because I was in the points and that was the goal. I know. already what I am going to do during the summer holidays: I am motivated to work and come back stronger in the Czech Republic ".

Site analysis : Successive double zero for Johann Zarco, victim of a loss in front in the same turn as Fabio Quartararo one lap after his compatriot. Like the rookie Yamaha, the KTM official commits his first direct fault this season: Johann had not crashed in the race since the Australian GP last fall.

Analysis - German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind -

The Frenchman admits his faults without looking for excuses, explaining that he probably asked too much when the cool conditions and the full tank of his motorcycle encouraged more restraint at the start of the race. Quartararo also realizes the same observation.

"It does not demotivate me, on the contrary," he voluntarily assures our colleagues at Canal +, before sweeping away this failure with a certain fatalism: "given everything I am going through at the moment, it does not is not a drama for me ". Seen from this angle…

A perspective not really positive, which contrasts with the "" that the n ° 5 said to have found after his voluntary abandonment in Assen. However, it is difficult to keep smiling and motivated in view of this new difficult weekend..

Analysis - German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind -

The Frenchman, never in the game at the Sachsenring, first qualified at a very distant 19th position, one and a half seconds off Marquez’s record pole. Johann took the start behind Hafizh Syahrin’s KTM Tech3, yet in complete distress on the RC16 !

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His race finished on the mat does not help his affairs in the championship since he is in 17th place between Lorenzo and Oliveira. His sixteen points from nine races put him just four behind HRC test driver Stefan Bradl, who was competing in just his second race this weekend (replacing Lorenzo).

All struggling KTMs in Saxony

However, Johann is not the only one to have suffered at the Sachsenring … The narrow and hilly nature of the German "tourniquet" has put all the KTM pilots to death, forced to do violence to themselves to tame the restive Austrian and its exhausting sound. tendency to resist when entering a curve.

Analysis - German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind -

Even the very energetic Pol Espargaro did not manage to work miracles, despite his "committed" piloting and his in-depth knowledge of the RC16 which he has been piloting for three years. "Polito", victim of a small electrical problem at the start, rallies the finish in twelfth place. 

A position far from being dishonorable, of course, but it should also be noted that the n ° 44 accuses 26.574 sec on the winner and that Rins, Quartararo and his brother Aleix Espargaro fell in front of him. Without this, the Spaniard was just entering the points: not very reassuring about the progress of the KTM at this stage of the season…

"Orange" alert to save Espargaro’s Top 10 

"The first half of the race went well and I fought with other drivers," said Zarco’s box neighbor, who suffered a sudden loss of grip. "I was trying to preserve my tire, but towards the end it was impossible: I am really disappointed to have encountered such a drop in grip at the rear".

Analysis - German GP: Zarco at fault, KTM lagging behind -

Add to that the anonymous 16th place of Syahrin and the fall in the top of Miguel Oliveira – courageously left to finish last -, and you get a decidedly not very encouraging assessment for the Austrian brand before the summer break.. 

The only consolation: Pol Espargaro passed the mid-season mark in tenth place in the provisional with 56 pts, between the Honda of Cal Crutchlow (67 pts) and the Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli (52 pts). Without notable changes, its position will however be difficult to hold until the final in Valencia (Spain).

Red Bull, title sponsor of the official KTM team, although generously "watering" the Austrian manufacturer, this does not give "wings" to its MotoGP prototypes and their unique technical solutions (trellis frame and "home" WP suspensions ) !

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