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For Johann Zarco, Argentina is proving to be a 'magical' weekend, as the Frenchman himself claimed at the end of a Saturday in which the LCR Honda rider first took the front row in qualifying, third behind the Marquez brothers. In the Sprint then, despite a sub-optimal start, he engaged in a battle with Acosta and Quartararo, keeping Di Giannantonio's Ducati at a distance and aiming for Bagnaia who, however, he was not able to reach. Finishing fourth one step away from the podium could therefore have left a bit of frustration, but the Frenchman instead is looking forward to the chance of a podium finish in the long race, because his choice of tires and experience could in fact give his Honda a chance to undermine Ducati's dominance.
"It went well, the third free practice session was already something magical for a Saturday," commented the Frenchman with satisfaction, "today I really believed that the podium was possible, and it was. The start, however, looking back on it we can say that it was not the best. It was not a bad start but the others do it slightly better."
The Frenchman then drew a more than positive assessment of his Argentine Saturday.
"The positive note of this day is that despite being in sixth position I could overtake good riders like Acosta and Fabio. They were in my hands and I could overtake them, and that is really positive. I also expected to have a better pace than Pecco but it wasn't good enough."
What is missing to catch up with the Ducatis?
"I think in the first few laps, in the first third of the race, they can make better use of the new tire. This is also true for the KTMs because Acosta was also fast but then he dropped. We manage to be consistent but we lacked that extra speed that you can draw on when you need it, that was my difficulty today."
Given the qualifying, is a podium finish possible?
"In the first five laps this top three is really strong, tomorrow with a different tire choice I hope to have even more margin to try to fight for the podium. It is possible to get it, in fact maybe tomorrow we will have even more chance. We will see the temperatures, with the medium on the rear I might get an advantage. I'll try to stay with Alex and Marc, the two of them have been ahead of everyone over the weekend, although I'm sure Bagnaia will be there as well."
