Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing Ducati) wrote motorsport history in MotoGP qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Frenchman smashed the previous all-time speed record of “Desmo-Dovi” in MotoGP with an unbelievable 362.4 kph (225.18 miph). 

The unbelievable new top speed record increased to over 360

The fastest motorcycle racer of all time has officially been Johann Zarco since March 27, 2021. The Frenchman is the first rider to break the 360 kph barrier in MotoGP. He broke Andrea Dovizioso’s previous speed record from 2019 by 5.7 kph. In FP4 at the Losail International Circuit, he drove an incredible 362.4 kph after using the slip stream on the straight. We pointed out in the run-up to the Qatar Grand Prix that it should not be underestimated. While almost everyone only spoke of his Ducati teammates Bagnaia and Miller until after FP2 on Friday, the fast man from Cannes is now on the grid in row 2 next to the Australian for the race.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing Ducati) in an interview in Qatar – the Frenchman with the dog eye was not only the fastest on the start-finish straight, but also claimed fastest times in the second and fourth sectors.

Sensation man of the start of the 2017 season and the resurgence after the debacle of 2019

In 2017, in his first Grand Prix of his career on the 2016 customer Yamaha, Zarco led the race for the first 6 laps at Losail before falling out of the race. In qualifying he was even a place better than his compatriot Fabio Quartararo on his debut in 2019 with fourth place. At that time he was missing from the starting grid because he stalled the engine of his Tech 3 Yamaha before the warm-up lap. Having started out of the pit lane, Fabio still drove the fastest lap of the race. After Zarco felt in his first year as a works rider on the KTM in 2019 that the color orange was anything but suited to him, he voluntarily withdrew from his 2-year contract prematurely. This took a lot of courage and earned him months of a mud fight and a downright hunt from the Red Bull propaganda machine. Even a burn-out syndrome was reported to him by their lying press at the time, but Johann was not deterred and gave his answer on the racetrack. Two years later he is in 6th position on the current Ducati and the KTM riders play an extra role. Chapeau, Monsieur Zarco, it couldn’t be better!

Johann Zarco Photographed on the almost inaccessible KTM by us in 2019 – not only the French had terrible trouble with it, but Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira were also desperate because of the faulty construction from Austria. The only real success for KTM this season was a third place for Haudegen Pol Espargaró in the rain race in Valencia, the first ever podium for the oranges. After he’s gone and they lost the 2020 test advantage, they apparently slipped back into third class.

Qatar weekend schedule

From Saturday to Sunday the changeover is to summer time, which only affects Europe and which is why the time difference to Qatar is reduced by one hour. The races take place early on Sunday evening. Of course, we report live and in a summary every day. It doesn’t get much faster than ours. So the top ten can be seen on our site immediately after they cross the target.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).