Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha broke back into the Grand Prix top ten finish in Sunday’s Indonesian MotoGP.
Competitive for most of the weekend, Quartararo then lapped consistently throughout the grand prix to work his way forward from twelfth on the grid.
The Frenchman matched the pace of the leading Aprilias in the closing laps as he hunted down the struggling Ducati of Fabio di Giannantonio.
Quartararo eventually finished just 0.159s behind the Italian, in ninth, for his best Grand Prix result since seventh at July’s German GP.
Fabio Quartararo chases Fabio di Giannantonio, 2026 Indonesian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
“I’m really happy with the race,” Quartararo said. “I was struggling a lot the first five laps, but I could maintain my position, and I think it was quite a great result.
“It was hot, it was physical, but I pushed until the end because I saw Diggia was struggling.
“I missed one lap [more to pass di Giannantonio] but also in the last five laps I destroyed my tyres.”
Ninth equalled Quartararo’s Sprint result, when Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi were eliminated in a Turn 1 clash.
Quartararo finished six places ahead of the next-best M1 of team-mate Alex Rins, who struggled with inconsistent engine braking and traction control.
Japanese MotoGP Race Lap Times: Podium plus Yamaha riders.
© Peter McLaren
Quartararo said he had not experienced the same issues.
“For me it is not really a problem," he said.
"We know that after Moto2 and Moto3 track conditions change a lot.
“I was having some issues stopping in turn one and turn ten, but my feeling with the front was not too bad, so I could compensate a bit.
“For sure there are always some details. We did not ride a lot this weekend with the medium [rear tyre], so things can happen like that.”
Monster Yamaha team principal Massimo Meregalli added:
"Fabio rode a really good race from the first to the very last lap, maintaining his position whilst making progress through the field to secure ninth place.
“He was close to eighth place at the end, which shows that our race pace was competitive.”
2021 MotoGP champion Quartararo starts the final five rounds of his Yamaha career, before joining Honda for the new 850cc/Pirelli era, holding 14th in the world championship.
The top Honda of Luca Marini finished in twelfth place on Sunday.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.