Fabio Quartararo turned off his television to avoid witnessing Francesco Bagnaia's title celebrations before quickly turning his attention to reclaiming his MotoGP crown next year.

Quartararo's hopes of retaining his championship were slim heading into Sunday's season-closing Valencia Grand Prix.

The Frenchman needed to win the race while seeing rival Bagnaia finish no better than 15th.

Instead, Quartararo could only manage fourth, while Bagnaia crossed the line in ninth to secure an ultimately comfortable title triumph.

The dethroned champion's pain was clear after the race, but he sought to focus on the positives, using his frustration as motivation for 2023.

"That's the positive and the negative side, of course," Quartararo told BT Sport. "It hurts a lot – I had to turn off the TV.

"But it's motivation to say, 'okay, we lost the title, but I will be back'. The team is working super hard, so there is no reason we cannot fight for the championship next year."

Quartararo referenced "an up-and-down season", which included "quite a lot of struggle", but there is optimism ahead of a post-season test on Tuesday.

"It will be really important," he said. "I want to always be in the top position, and I will try my best. I will work super hard, and I am pushing the team to make the same.

"I think next year is going to be a good year, and hopefully we can really bring a performing bike to fight with them."

Francesco Bagnaia broke down in tears after withstanding an issue with his Ducati to become MotoGP world champion on Sunday, ending a 50-year wait for an Italian to win the title on an Italian bike.

Bagnaia needed only two points at the Valencia Grand Prix to hold off 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo and clinch his first championship.

But the 25-year-old has done things the hard way this year, recovering from a slow start to surge to the top of the standings, and the season-ending race was far from straightforward.

Although Bagnaia enjoyed a strong start to the race to keep the pressure up on Quartararo – who needed to win even if his rival failed to finish – contact between the pair saw the championship leader lose part of his right wing.

It was a struggle then for the former Moto2 champion to get to the finish in one piece, meaning he was in an emotional state after crossing the line in ninth and sealing the title.

"It was the worst race of the year, for sure, maybe of my life, because I was there, fighting with my bike," Bagnaia told BT Sport.

"At the start, everything went well, everything was okay. But after losing my wing, I started struggling a lot – a lot, a lot, a lot. It was very difficult to manage everything.

"I just tried to arrive in the last laps with a bit of calm. Finally, when I saw on the pit board I was world champion, I started to cry a lot. It's something incredible."

Valentino Rossi had been the last Italian MotoGP champion in 2009, while Casey Stoner was the last man to triumph with Ducati in 2007.

Not since Giacomo Agostini took the title with MV Agusta in 1972 had an Italian won on an Italian bike.

"To be world champion is the main thing for every rider in MotoGP," Bagnaia added. "To be world champion with Ducati as an Italian is something unbelievable.

"I'm very happy. It's difficult to share with you my happiness in this moment. I'm very emotional, so it's difficult to say what I really want to say."

Francesco Bagnaia dethroned Fabio Quartararo as MotoGP champion by holding his nerve at the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix, where Alex Rins won on Sunday.

Bagnaia needed only two points – a 14th-placed finish – to become the first Ducati champion in 15 years; even had he fallen short of that modest target, Quartararo would have needed to win the race.

The 2021 victor vowed to be "aggressive but intelligent" after qualifying in fourth, and was good to his word.

But Bagnaia, starting from eighth, did enough early on to ensure a race win was out of Quartararo's reach, then settling in for a careful ride that sought to ensure there would be no late crash to alter the outcome.

Rins dashed away to victory ahead of Brad Binder as Suzuki bowed out of the series in style, but the focus was further back in the field at the end of the longest ever MotoGP season.

Bagnaia passed Quartararo into Turn 1, only for the Frenchman to quickly recover and then attack Jack Miller, moving back into fourth.

Despite five retirements in 2022, the season leader was not going away quietly, and he battled back before contact between the two title rivals robbed him of his right wing.

Quartararo came out on top in that tussle, but the distraction allowed the race leaders to build a significant gap back to the contenders – one that became increasingly difficult to bridge as Bagnaia did not relent.

Finally, with those in front out of sight, Bagnaia backed off, riding home in ninth as Quartararo's fourth-placed finish left him 17 points short of back-to-back championships.