There was double delight for Pramac rider Johann Zarco on Sunday as the Frenchman clinched second place in the second Qatar MotoGP.

Joining fellow Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and rookie teammate Jorge Martin on the Losail podium, there were celebrations all round for the 30-year-old as he clinched the first ever French one-two in the premier class while also promoting himself to top-spot overall in the world championship.

Reflecting on his race, Zarco explained, “Before the start I was wondering how we’ll manage. We know the Ducati will start pretty strong, but to have Jorge leading the race, I expect maybe to have a slower pace than last week, because he’s a rookie and maybe he will get some stress or something. Finally we went even faster because after half-race, compared to Pecco, he was keeping the pace in 55s.

“I was happy because I was feeling good behind him,” the Frenchman continued. “Every time someone was overtaking me and maybe try to attack Jorge, thanks to the engine I was able to get second again. For me this was the perfect race, as last week, to have this control, keep the energy, to have the chance to fight at the end of the race, maybe for victory and here I was able to think a bit more about the victory.

“When Fabio came, four laps to go or three laps to go, I was feeling pretty good and I think that the tyres were not so bad to have the chance for victory but when he over took Jorge he had this gap immediately. I wanted to attack also but Jorge was going a bit too fast and it was difficult to overtake him.

"I did the best to find the place, and on the last lap I had to keep the guys behind because I knew there was a lot of people behind me, and I don’t want to lose the podium. At the same time I have to make a move on Jorge. In turn 15 it went perfectly and then in turn 16 I keep the second place until the end so, just perfect.”

As one of the few riders to spend the entire month on location in Qatar - since pre-season testing began back on March 5th - a somewhat surprised Zarco explained that the championship fight wasn’t his initial focus while preparing for the season ahead.

“Leading the championship, I did not expect this when I came here 35 days ago” the Frenchman continued. “Just coming for the test, to be focused, to do good work, still learn the Ducati, and now I’m leading the championship! I feel that I still have things to control better, to feel more comfortable and have more options during the race.

“It is the balance of a man - to be happy. It’s the human being, you have to stay like this. Right now it is going well, and the team is helping - because as I say, you can have a coffee break and have fun but then on the work they are working pretty well, plus Ducati, they are giving the right bike. This Latin feeling, for me, I’m very comfortable with the Italian language and that’s why also it’s feeling good. When everything is coming together, the target is to be on top. We are right now so, keep living this moment.”

The strength of the Pramac and Ducati partnership has been clear to see over the two Qatar races, with Zarco completing both 22-lap contests as the fastest Ducati, so what does he put the winning potential down to?

“I think in Pramac, we have the chance to have the same bike than the factory team but we maybe have less pressure than the factory riders,” Zarco mused before continuing, “this helps us to also sometimes have this extra power in the mind - like the pole position Jorge did yesterday and the nice race we did together today.

"At the end, we cannot say they did a bad race when you see the first 15 guys in eight-seconds. The first 15 guys didn’t do a bad race. It’s so close. So it’s just a good time to take for us right now. I’m pretty happy now that I’m back with the top guys and really enjoying the first races, I had a lot of fun and it was such a nice feeling to control it.”

“Fabio winning the race, and me second, I’m happy, and that’s why I really push to sing [the anthem]. You have to realise that it’s just phenomenal what we can do for France right now, for the motorbike [industry]. We enjoy it a lot and it’s maybe one of the best moments in my career.

"I didn’t realise it in that way, but this one is like a unique moment. First and second is just perfect for the history,” he concluded.