Last weekend saw Quartararo relinquish his grip on the MotoGP series lead for the first time since Portimao, after an initial mistake at turn four was followed by a race-ending crash at turn two.
A devastating Australian MotoGP for his title hopes, Quartararo has now dropped to 14 points behind Bagnaia in the MotoGP standings, although all is not lost for the Yamaha rider.
As highlighted by the massive 91 point swing that has seen Bagnaia overhaul Quartararo since Assen, two races is plenty of time for the reigning champion to make a statement, which needs to happen this weekend.
Quartararo has not won a race since Sachsenring which is why he’s approaching the Malaysian Grand Prix differently to recent rounds.
“Right now I’m in a position where I don’t need to think about anything, just push myself to the limit,” added Quartararo ahead of Friday practice.
“It’s of course a different mentality and I will make this GP in a different mood. I will not say [it’s because of] pressure, but the feeling I have is that I have nothing to lose at this moment.
“I will approach the race by putting myself on the limit from the beginning of the weekend, try to make some changes on the bike that in the end – every time we go to a track we are super good on the track and never touch anything – now is maybe the moment to [do that].
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“Even if you don’t feel super good you can try to make an improvement. I think it’s a different situation than the previous ones.”
Quartararo calls second half to his 2022 MotoGP season ‘horrible’
Although Jack Miller is now out of title contention and Enea Bastianini is hanging on by a thread, of the five title contenders heading into last weekend’s race, Quartararo had scored the fewest amount of points since Assen.
A tally of 47 points has been amassed in the last eight races, leading to Quartararo pulling no punches about his current run of results, although he remains confident that a swing back in his favor can happen.
“It’s not over! Hey [Bagnaia] did it and we can do it. But like I said, of course the second part of the season has been horrible. We can make it turn and really perform during these last two races.”
Quartararo disappointed by lack of help from Morbidelli
In recent rounds Quartararo has been seen giving Franco Morbidelli a tow during practice, and while the Italian’s pace has picked up relative to the beginning of the season, qualifying and producing in the race has not.
Quartararo, who has been fighting against multiple Ducatis all season, was at a loss for words when trying to describe what is going on with his team-mate.
Quartararo said: “At the end, everyone is racing against a Ducati. Of course, it is difficult when you are in front, but with Franco I don’t know.
“It is a question I cannot answer. It’s difficult to know. He made a change from the 19 bike to the 21 which is really similar to this one.
“But you need to ride it in a different situation but it’s already one-and-a-half-year that he’s had to adapt.”
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