Quartararo was one of many stars of pre-season testing on the Losail circuit, ending up second quickest behind Maverick Vinales, and backed that efficiency up by qualifying fifth for his first race with the all-new Petronas SRT Yamaha outfit.
However, the 19-year-old threw away any likelihood of a equally sturdy race outcome by stalling his bike on the grid, forcing him to start out from the pits.
After setting the quickest lap of the race, Quartararo may solely handle a 16th-place end, dropping out on the ultimate level to fellow countryman Johann Zarco.
Reflecting on his Qatar expertise in a press convention in Paris, Quartararo admitted that shortly earlier than the race he “began to get harassed”.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, he added: “Two hours earlier than [the race], I felt like I had a stomachache, I attempted to eat slightly bit earlier than the race and I could not take it in.
“The staff supervisor [Wilco Zeelenberg] got here to see me and he may inform I used to be super-upset.
“We trip in MotoGP and we all know that the tyres and brakes are super-cold, the rear tyre is also model new, all shiny, with sand… he informed me, ‘keep calm as a result of the primary lap can be super-dangerous’.
“‘Then you’ll achieve confidence and little by little get quicker and quicker on the next laps, however keep calm within the early laps.'”
“Of course I used to be nervous. When I used to be prepared to start out, I knew I actually needed to take the primary corners delicately. If I fell on the primary lap, it might have been a bit ridiculous!
“It was particularly within the first six corners that I knew I needed to trip fairly slowly.”
Quartararo feels nonetheless that his error mustn’t detract from what was in any other case a really sturdy first grand prix weekend on the highest stage.
“Of course I used to be slightly bit annoyed to start out from the pitlane, however in any other case it is okay,” he mirrored. “I’m glad to have performed a great race.
“Sadly, the outcome wasn’t there, however I did an excellent weekend.”
Fabio Quartararo, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Photo by: Gold and Goose / LAT Images