Fabio Quartararo “burning”, “impressed” by Alex Rins in Indonesia MotoGP race

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo admits he was “burning” in the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix while riding in the pack on his way to seventh.

The Frenchman was forced to run the hard front and soft rear in Sunday’s 27-lap race at Mandalika as it was the only Michelin combination he “was feeling quite ok on”.

Starting eighth, Fabio Quartararo rode cautiously to preserve his soft rear rubber and eventually finished as the top Yamaha in seventh.

But he admits running in the pack and the heat from his own exhaust meant he was “burning” during the race.

“Hot. I was behind everybody and I had the exhaust on my leg, so I was burning,” he said when asked about his race.

“I felt great. I also had to choose different tyres, hard front/soft rear.

“It was the only tyres where I was feeling quite ok, and it was difficult because we had to take care about the rear.

“And especially it was difficult because I could not overtake anyone, because out of the corners they are going away.

“But I think I rode pretty well and was pretty clever with how I could manage the rear tyre.”

For much of the weekend, Quartararo was outclassed by his team-mate Alex Rins, who qualified a season-best fourth and ran as high as second in the grand prix on the same soft Michelin rear tyre.

He eventually faded to 10th when his tyre dropped, but Quartararo says he was nevertheless “impressed” by his team-mate’s best showing as a Yamaha rider.

“I know exactly what was going on,” he said about Rins’ pace.

“When you have the soft rear - I was behind him for two, three laps, I could not overtake. But then, I saved a bit the tyre and he was gone in a few laps.

“I said ‘hmm, I don’t know if he’s going to arrive to the end’. But I had to keep my tyres a little bit fresher. I think seven laps to go he was still second and I thought maybe I managed too much.

“But the problem in general is when the tyre is up, it’s gone. And I think that’s what was going on.”

Asked if Rins’ pace was indicative of wider gains or just track specific, he added: “Just this place, but especially I think the way he was pushing also, also I think Raul [Fernandez] and [Luca] Marini went wide, so he could overtake both.

“He was strong against Acosta, but we could clearly see the power is another level [on the KTM].

“I think I was really impressed at how Alex was riding this weekend.

“For me it was one of my worst weekends in terms of feeling, but he was super, super-fast and it was nice to see some data and see how I could improve.”