Fabio Quartararo says he “could have finished last” in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the feeling of winning his maiden MotoGP title “would have been the same.”
The Yamaha rider recovered from a sluggish start at Misano-in which he dropped to 17th after starting 15th– to finish fourth after methodically working his way back through the field, a ride which ultimately sealed his first MotoGP world championship with two races to spare after Francesco Bagnaia crashed out from the lead just six laps from the end.
Quartararo was in position to clinch the title with a rostrum finish, though Avintia’s Enea Bastianini repeated his San Marino GP charge to dump the Frenchman off the podium with a strong move on the final circulation.
The 2021 MotoGP champion insisted he “didn’t care” about losing out on the podium after realising the title was his, though admitted Bagnaia crashing out “is not the way I wanted to win.”
“The championship feels so good, I have no words but of course it is not the way I wanted to win because of Pecco (Bagnaia) crashing,” said Quartararo.
“We’ve had a really great year with lots of victories, podiums and I gave it everything to finish on the podium (today), but it was a bit too tough with our tyres, but I don’t care as I’m world champion.
“I could have finished last today and the feeling would have been the same, this is the best moment of my career.
“The race was tough because I made a really bad start, I’ve never experienced making a start in MotoGP from that far back and I think my front tyre pressure was too high so I couldn’t brake and had a lot of moments where I nearly crashed.
“Being close to the podium was amazing, I had a new experience starting far back and with the championship pressure, I felt bad this morning with belly ache and this was the first time I found it difficult to eat before the race.
“I tried to finish on the podium but my front tyre was finished and Enea (Bastianini) was much faster at the end, but I don’t care and it was great to be with my family and crew on the podium first.”
Quartararo-who becomes the first French rider to win a premier class series championship as well as Yamaha’s first world champion since Jorge Lorenzo in 2015-says he is looking forward to “really enjoying” the last couple of races without the title pressure upon his shoulders, adding that he was happy to enjoy his success with his family on-site at Misano.
“Today was a big day and we managed to be world champion, so from today I’ll be able to lose the pressure and really enjoy the last two races,” continued Quartararo.
“I wanted to have my family here because I have worked a lot with them, my Dad made a lot of sacrifices for me to race and my Mum was home alone and then my brother was helping me to train when I was a kid so it was great to have them here.
“I also wanted them at Portimao because it was really not expected to win here from my side, so it’s even better to know I’ll have them for the next races.”
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