Fabio Quartararo surprised everyone — including himself — during the Sprint race in Qatar, where he managed to finish in fifth place, which is his best result of the season so far.

If you're not too familiar with Quartararo, he won the MotoGP title back in 2021. But in Qatar, he qualified in third place and started the Sprint from the front row. He held on to that position for a little while, but Franco Morbidelli overtook him, pushing him into fourth. Quartararo stayed there until the very last corner, where a small mistake let rookie Fermin Aldeguer slip past. Still, he crossed the line in fifth — a clear improvement.

“The pace we had over 11 laps was better than I expected,” Quartararo said to MotoGP.com. “I was a bit worried going into the race, but it turned out to be quite good.”

He explained that while the overall pace felt strong, overtaking the Ducati bikes was tough. “I had a great start and a solid first lap, but overtaking the Ducatis isn’t easy. I tried everything, but it’s complicated.”

Even though the Sprint went better than expected, Quartararo wasn’t surprised by his impressive qualifying lap. “I knew I had a fast lap in me — maybe not that fast — but it was one of the few times recently I could really push to the limit without making any mistakes,” he said to MotoGP. com. “When the bike isn’t perfect, you tend to overdo it and make errors. Today, I nailed the lap. It felt amazing.”

That amazing lap put him on the front row — something he hadn’t done since the Dutch TT in 2022. “It’s been a while,” he added with a smile. “I actually enjoy qualifying more than racing lately. Going full throttle like that on a single lap was the best part of the day.”

His performance is even more impressive considering he didn’t touch the bike setup all weekend. He decided to focus on pushing his own limits instead.

And it's not really a surprise — Quartararo won in Qatar during his 2021 title season. He admitted the Yamaha still feels strong at the Losail track. “This bike suits this circuit,” he said to MotoGP.com. “That’s a big plus, and when you get that kind of feeling, you have to make the most of it. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the next races.”

He also pointed out how much progress they’ve made compared to last year. “We’re about 1.2 seconds faster than we were here in 2024 — that’s a huge improvement. And starting a race without seeing anyone in front of me on the grid? That’s a nice change!”