Zarco shows promise in MotoGP Sprint in Austria
Red Bull Ring - SpielbergJohann Zarco finished the Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix in seventh place after a strong performance
Castrol Honda LCR’s Johann Zarco enjoyed a positive day as he capitalised on his top‑ten starting position after fighting his way through Q1 to claim a points‑paying result in a race that required the Frenchman to get his elbows out and battle against his rivals. With a cool head, Zarco managed his pace, avoided mistakes, and heads into the main event feeling positive and hungry for more success.
Luca Marini faced an uphill battle on the run up to Turn 1 in the Sprint after qualifying 15th, and together with his Honda HRC Castrol team decided to focus on understanding what will be possible during Sunday’s Grand Prix, opting for the medium tyre. The Italian made a strong start and gained ground before switching to a more defensive mode. Taking 13th at the line, Marini has gathered valuable information for the feature‑length race and has key decisions to make overnight.
Taka Nakagami’s progress continued throughout Saturday, qualifying 18th on the grid—just 0.3s behind his teammate Marini. When the lights went out for the 14‑lap Sprint, Nakagami immediately locked into an intense fight with Morbidelli and a trio of Yamaha riders before breaking away and closing in on Pol Espargaró in the battle of the Development Riders. The Japanese rider finished the Sprint Race in 15th, which bodes well for a push toward points in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The standout rookie of 2026, Diogo Moreira, riding the Pro Honda LCR entry, endured a challenging day. After narrowly missing the cut for Q2, he lined up 16th on the grid before receiving a double long‑lap penalty for a jump start. Despite the setback, Moreira fought back to finish 16th and showed that he has solid race pace and the potential to move forward and score meaningful points in the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring will commence at 14:00 local time and will see the Honda riders battle 20 opponents over 28 laps, with Zarco leading the charge.
“I’m very happy! To score points in the Sprint, you need to do everything perfectly, and we did a good enough job today. I’m happy. Today, during the Sprint, I confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday. Tomorrow, we’ll need to manage the whole race and do a good job, but we’re confident that we can put together a strong race. Let’s see!”
“I’m very happy! To score points in the Sprint, you need to do everything perfectly, and we did a good enough job today. I’m happy. Today, during the Sprint, I confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday. Tomorrow, we’ll need to manage the whole race and do a good job, but we’re confident that we can put together a strong race. Let’s see!”
“Today was all about testing for tomorrow, I went with the medium rear in the Sprint to understand how it behaves before the long race. It was not easy with the medium and I think a lot of guys who used the soft in the Sprint will have some surprises. Q1 was tricky today and I couldn’t get the same feeling as in practice, it felt like there was less grip overall and I wasn’t able to improve my time in the second half of the lap. But let’s see what we can do on Sunday with this extra information as our pattern this year is always making a step for the long race and as we saw today, this track is very critical and you need to be riding in a perfect way.”
“Today was all about testing for tomorrow, I went with the medium rear in the Sprint to understand how it behaves before the long race. It was not easy with the medium and I think a lot of guys who used the soft in the Sprint will have some surprises. Q1 was tricky today and I couldn’t get the same feeling as in practice, it felt like there was less grip overall and I wasn’t able to improve my time in the second half of the lap. But let’s see what we can do on Sunday with this extra information as our pattern this year is always making a step for the long race and as we saw today, this track is very critical and you need to be riding in a perfect way.”
"Some positives feelings today in Qualifying and the Sprint, still there’s a lot to improve but step by step progress is being made. Session by session, I am working better with the team and they’re helping me a lot to compare to the other Honda riders. We did a lot of laps during the test before here so my physical condition isn’t perfect and when you need to push to your maximum like in Qualifying or a race, this is when you feel it. Sunday will be a long 28 laps, a lot of tyre management to do. I am enjoying being the factory team and I want to thank them all for their effort."
"Some positives feelings today in Qualifying and the Sprint, still there’s a lot to improve but step by step progress is being made. Session by session, I am working better with the team and they’re helping me a lot to compare to the other Honda riders. We did a lot of laps during the test before here so my physical condition isn’t perfect and when you need to push to your maximum like in Qualifying or a race, this is when you feel it. Sunday will be a long 28 laps, a lot of tyre management to do. I am enjoying being the factory team and I want to thank them all for their effort."
"When I was waiting for the lights, somehow I felt like it was taking too long, and I made a big mistake. I apologized to the team. We have another chance tomorrow to make up for it. In the end, we changed some things on the bike, and I felt better and had a good pace. We’ll recover from this, for sure!”
"When I was waiting for the lights, somehow I felt like it was taking too long, and I made a big mistake. I apologized to the team. We have another chance tomorrow to make up for it. In the end, we changed some things on the bike, and I felt better and had a good pace. We’ll recover from this, for sure!”
