After his worst qualifying of the 2022 MotoGP season, Quartararo managed to bounce back with one of his best rides this season.
Also dealing with a broken middle finger (left hand) following his turn eight crash during FP4, Quartararo recovered more than six positions between the rundown to turn one and exiting turn two.
As the race went on the former championship leader began to close in on leaders Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, without ever catching the Ducati pair.
Asked if he was too conservative early on after attempting to save as much tire for the final few laps, Quartararo said: “I was not conservative I was just pushing all the race. Also I was catching Pecco and Enea when they were battling together.
“My pace was quite good but also I think Marco [Bezzecchi] over did his tire in the beginning. At the end he was quite far back. I was pushing my maximum and at the end trying to keep a bit the tire for the end.
“Of course I saw that Bezzecchi was catching but I also wanted to catch Pecco and Enea. I was at the limit of myself.”
Quartararo ‘didn’t expect’ Bagnaia to win Malaysian MotoGP
Starting three places higher than him after also suffering an unusually poor qualifying, Bagnaia was second after lap one before taking the lead on lap five when Jorge Martin crashed out.
Related Articles
Although Quartararo seemed to have more pace than Bagnaia with a few laps remaining, the Yamaha rider was visibly on the limit in order to produce slightly quicker lap times, which eventually led to him settling for third after it became clear that catching the top two was not possible.
Without a podium since Sachsenring prior to last weekend’s race – Quartararo suffered four non scores in that time frame – the French rider confirmed he was back to having fun in Sepang although it still wasn’t enough to beat Bagnaia.
“That’s what I wanted to do [extend the title fight to Valencia] but I didn’t expect Pecco to win,” said Quartararo.
“The most important thing for me is that I enjoyed this race and it was a long time that I didn’t enjoy riding the bike, especially on the race.
“Let’s see in Valencia – it is a track that I like. Last year was not our best race but the only thing I need to do is try to win.”