until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Dethroned MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo says he has nothing to regret about his final bid to hold onto his title in the 2022 season finale at Valencia.
A fourth-place finish for Quartararo in Spain was not enough to halt Pecco Bagnaia’s attempts to take the crown from him.
Quartararo needed to win the race with Bagnaia not even in the top 14, so salvaging his title defence in the final race was always a huge ask.
In the end any hope of the crucial win disappeared early in the race when contact with first Jack Miller and then Bagnaia himself separated the Yamaha rider from the group in front.
“The start was pretty good,” Quartararo said.
“I made one of the best starts of my year, even better than Sepang [when he launched from 12th on the grid into the top five], but Marc [Marquez] went on the right, I went on the left, and I couldn’t make a great first lap.
“Then with Jack we had a contact and I just got pushed wide.
“We made great pace and we recovered well to the front, but Jack brakes so late. We both went wide in Turn 2, and when I touched with Pecco too I wanted to push myself to my maximum.
“In that lap I was on the limit, but I have no regrets because I gave my 100%.”
Though the incident with the Ducatis was the moment when Quartararo lost touch with the group headed by eventual winner Alex Rins, he replied “no, unfortunately not” when asked if he would have had the pace to win without it.
With the temperatures at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit spiking even more than expected for race day, it meant that he was then left with another episode of the front tyre problems that have often stymied his races in 2022.
“Today was more hot than yesterday, and the left side of the tyre was so much on the limit, and I couldn’t do anything else,” Quartararo said.
“I gave it my 100% until the end, I had front tyre problems, and we have no regrets.
“It wasn’t a problem with tyre pressure, it was just basically a compound too soft, and thankfully this year at least we had one step harder.”
Quartararo admitted in a BT Sport interview that he had to “turn the TV off” in the garage after the race while Bagnaia and Ducati’s celebrations got going, admitting the defeat “hurt”.
But despite losing out in his title defence, he insists that there’s nothing to be disappointing about from Sunday’s race given the commitment to the fight that he was able to show right up until the final lap of the season – and that the fact that a new season effectively starts with testing on Tuesday is prime motivation.
“When you lose the title like that, you always see 99% negative, but you have to look at the 1% positive, because the next four months I need to train hard and prepare myself for the next race, and fight harder in 2023,” he said.
“Of course after the race it was emotional because I’m a fighter, a winner, and I want to be in the first position.
“The next 15 minutes after the race was tough, but it happens and it’s finished.
“We need to close the book and make a new chapter, and it’s time to do that on Tuesday now.
“First we have to celebrate tonight. Then on Tuesday we have that very important test for 2023, and of course I’m really motivated because it concerns our future bike.”
