Heartbroken Quartararo watched Bagnaia celebrate: “I had to turn off the TV”

Quartararo’s MotoGP title reign ended in Valencia when Bagnaia did enough to claim his maiden championship - the rivals made contact on a dramatic opening lap.

Quartararo was 91 points ahead in the MotoGP standings earlier this year and Bagnaia’s comeback is the greatest of all time.

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“This is the positive and the negative side,” an upset Quartararo told BT as Bagnaia went wild in the Ducati garage. “I had to turn off the TV in the box.

“The motivation is: we lost the title but I’ll be back, the team is working hard, and there’s no reason why we can’t fight for the title next year.

“When you lose a title like this, you must find a positive. Even if, right now, I feel 99 percent negative. The one percent positive is the next four months waiting for the first race. I will have more anger to train better and to fight hard in 2023.

“Of course after the race I was emotional. I’m a fighter, a winner. I want to be in first position.

“The first 15 minutes after the race was tough.

“But it’s finished. We close the book. Start a new chapter beginning on Tuesday.”

Yamaha rider Quartararo is hoping that Tuesday’s test in Valencia reveals upgrades on a bike that ultimately cost him the pace to defend the title he won a year ago.

“I have no regrets. I gave 100 percent,” he reflected.

“I am pushing the team. Next year will be a good year.

“I can’t wait to try the bike on Tuesday, to try the potential.”

He said about the final race of 2022: “I had to fight strong, I had to be aggressive.

“It was an up and down season. We had a lot of struggles this year with our bike.”