Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo completed a controversial CatalanGP with two penalties after his Alpinestars suit came undone in the final five laps.

Having crossed the line third, but with his leathers open to the waist and his chest protector discarded, the Frenchman was demoted after the flag, first to fourth and then to sixth - behind teammate Maverick Viñales - as two successive 3-second penalties were imposed.

The first ‘for gaining an advantage when going wide at turn one’ and the second for ‘riding without his leather suit correctly fastened and without the required chest protector’.

“What happened I don’t know” Quartararo said directly after the race - and before the second penalty was declared.

“I just know that I had the leathers completely open in the first corner. Five laps to go, and I tried to just put it in the normal position again. I couldn’t do it so it was difficult to ride but unfortunately, it happened today. Alpinestars are looking into how this is possible because at the end of the race was possible again to close it. It was not our day but I can be happy with this fourth position, well, third that finished with fourth” he continued.

When asked if he was expecting a second penalty due to the safety aspect of riding without the appropriate kit, he responded:

“I already have a penalty, but I don’t agree with it, demoted three-seconds - from P3 to P4, but I think this penalty is quite enough. In the end is finished. Let’s say, the race is finished, the safety is okay. We finished the race, everybody is safe, so that’s it.”

Launching from pole, Quartararo immediately lost ground on the Ducati of Jack Miller and the impressive start of Miguel Oliveira, running third into the first corner. A mistake on the second lap dropped him back to fifth and he lost another position to Johann Zarco, but that was only temporary. He was soon back into fifth position hunting down the leading quartet.

With 18 laps to go, he was back up to second and eager to chase down Oliveira, a task he was confident he could easily complete with one-second of clear air ahead. Five laps later, his M1 was in the lead and he attempted to break free of the KTM but Oliveira used the slipstream to retake the control.

Left-side tyre degradation and the unexpected malfunction of his leathers unsettled his rhythm in the closing laps and he dropped to third, maintaining the position, despite the disruption until the chequered flag.

“I was saving the tyre, but honestly even on the left side, Miguel was so strong” the Frenchman explained.

“I didn’t have the feeling of this morning with the hard, or even from all the weekend. I think all the Yamahas has this issue because for me, Franco [Morbidelli] was one of the big contenders for the win and he finished far away. I have not the best feeling with the rear tyre, Maverick looks like too. So, yes, strange feeling, but let’s say, with all the things that happened to us today I think fourth is quite okay,” he concluded.

“It’s a bit of a disappointing end to an otherwise good race weekend” Yamaha Team Director, Massimo Meregalli added.

“We knew the final laps of the race would be decisive but, even though Fabio tried to manage the tyres as good as possible, we lost some performance on the left side. We don’t know what happened yet with Fabio, but regardless of what caused the situation, he showed what a fighter he is by hanging on to third place. The three-second penalty moved him back to fourth, but that’s still a good result when an issue beyond our control happens.”