It was one apiece for the Yamaha boys at Losail on Sunday after Fabio Quartararo emulated teammate Maverick Viñales’ Qatar comeback to claim his own victory at the DohaGP.

Lining up fifth, the Frenchman initially found himself in ninth after a poor start on his M1, but the youngster remained calm, trusting in the consistency of his race pace and managing his tyres until he found the right moment to strike.

By the midway stage, the Monster Energy man had started to move back through the pack and was sitting fifth with nine laps to go. Reinvigorated, he overtook both Alex Rins and Johann Zarco in a matter of just four laps, needing only a couple more corners to ultimately claim the lead from Jorge Martin. Though he was briefly overtaken due to slipstream, the Frenchman made the most of his M1‘s corner speed to clinch the position before promptly checking out. Eventually taking his first win of the season with an irrefutable 1.457s lead, despite a hair-raising moment making contact with debris on track in the final lap.

“I have no words” the 21-year-old exclaimed from Parc Ferme. “I have not won many races, so for sure this one is the most special one coming from ninth.

“After the last race I was a bit disappointed in myself. I felt like I rode a little bit like an amateur, like a rookie. During this race it was totally different. I was thinking so well, I played a lot with the map and the tyres. Nine or ten laps to the end I thought ’Right, now is the moment to push and show our potential‘. It‘s great to finish in first position!

“I was so happy with FP4, because I felt like I was the only rider to do only high 1‘54s laps. So we made a plan, but the team also told me to play it by feeling, and I did that really well today.

“I was feeling so good. When I overtook Zarco, I also immediately overtook Martin. I was so scared when I hit the debris on track. I thought ‘Not a puncture, please!’, because it made a bad sound. My last lap didn‘t feel as fast as the earlier ones but it was enough for the win. To have two French guys in one and two, singing the French anthem with Johann today, was one of the best moments of my career.”

Having watched his teammate win the opening race of the year, did it spur him on for more this time around?

“I have good relationship with Maverick, and of course, in the first moment, I feel a little bit frustrated but at the end is good and we saw that the potential of the bike is to win” Quartararo explained. “At one stage, you need to say ‘okay he won, what do I need to do? I will not get angry with him, have good relation, I’m happy for him, but I will work even more and try to do it also for me.’ Our relation is good, and I think in the preseason we made a good job because I felt like we collaborate in the same way. It’s great to fight for victories rather than fight for top-10s together, so I think we’ve made a great job!”

Discussing the improvements made to his M1 machine, the Frenchman is cautious about heaping too much praise at such an early stage, especially with the entire preseason test schedule and opening two races playing out at the same venue.

“We will see in two weeks” he continued “Portimao was one of the most difficult tracks for us, where we struggle at the end - apart from Franco who had the ’19 spec that finished in third place - we finished, 10th, 11th, 14th, I think. That will be a moment where we will see the potential of our bike. At the moment I can say that overtaking is much better from last year because I have the feeling like I feel the limit, and I know where is the limit. So, I have great feeling here in Qatar, but let’s see in the other races but I feel good on the bike.

Reflecting again on his progress between the two Losail battles, Quartararo admitted “I feel like last week I rode like a rookie, that I didn’t play with the maps, not controlling the rear tyre. I was three days in the hotel thinking ‘why I didn’t use my brain while I was riding?’ I felt like when I was in P9 I say ‘Okay, we will try to do our best’ and when I thought that, I said ‘no, no, no, we will try to go for the win!’ Actually, I felt so good in the overtakes, I could brake so hard and keep the brake on the edge of the bike, and I feel like this wind give me much more confidence than the winds from last week because I came from far.

“In the test was difficult to say, ‘wow, the Ducatis are fast in the straight, and fast in the pace, will be difficult to beat them’ but actually, you need to look at yourself and try to be the best you can. So that’s what we did today and it gives me a boost of confidence for the future.

“Honestly, I’m feeling so happy because it’s true that this track is helping us a lot to make some good overtakes, but I felt so great with the bike. All the other riders are riding so fast, but sometimes you make an overtake and you don’t know what is going to happen later, you feel the front moving - that’s something we didn’t have last year, I was just going to the corner and no feeling, and then just lose the front. With this bike, I felt like I have a little bit more confidence with the front and I feel much more the limit. At the end this is what I need to go fast. We have it right now here in Qatar, I’m crossing the fingers to have it in all the races and try strong overtakes. I believe in our bike, but I can’t say it is going to work all year. At the moment we have a really good bike.”