Fabio Quartararo was set to secure Yamaha’s best MotoGP result of 2024 in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix until running out of fuel with two corners to go.
Having qualified an encouraging ninth on a weekend when he was the sole representative for Yamaha, Quartararo showed solid pace and capitalised on crashes ahead of him to run fifth as the Misano race neared its conclusion.
But with the chequered flag in sight, the Frenchman began to slow down as the engine on his M1 ran dry, forcing him to limp to the finish line as both Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli and Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales overtook him down the straight.
Explaining what happened on the last lap, Quartararo told French broadcaster Canal+: “I ran out of fuel in the penultimate corner.
“We're already dragging our feet a bit in terms of engine power, and we're not holding out in races to try to make the most of what we have. Finishing fifth or seventh doesn't really change our [life]. It's the pace we had [that counts] but we're still missing a lot of things."
Quartararo was running as the best of the non-Ducati riders until two corners from the finish at Misano, representing the progress Yamaha has slowly been making after a torrid start to the year.
Quartararo has now bagged two seventh-place finishes in a row in the Misano double-header, while team-mate Alex Rins also broke inside the top 10 for the first time in Aragon at the start of the month.
Reflecting on a recent upward trend at Yamaha, the 2021 champion said: “I had one second clear from Franky in the last sector. It was just [a matter of] finishing. It was just one straight; it was nothing more.
“But at least I know the race that we did was P5 with some [riders] crashing at [the] front, but this can always happen to everybody. But I think the pace that we had made now was really, really fast.
“It's three races in a row that we scored in the sprint. Even last year we never really scored in the sprints, so I'm pretty happy.
“I'm making some good starts lately and I hope that we can do it again in the overseas [races]. I think is the most difficult part.”
Additional reporting by Lorenza D'Adderio
