Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo was positively surprised by his race pace in the Qatar GP sprint on Saturday, when the Frenchman converted a morale-boosting front row start into fifth position at the flag.
The 2021 world champion briefly ran third at the start of the race, the same position in which he had qualified, but was quickly demoted by the VR46 Ducati of Franco Morbidelli, then ran fourth until the final corner. At that point, a mistake gifted the place to rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
