The Tech 3 rider played a pivotal role in the frantic Australian GP, leading twice as he bounced his way through the lead pack.

The Frenchman was right in the fight for a podium spot even after Marc Marquez eased away from that leading group in the closing stages, only to be shuffled back to fourth as Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales beat him to the line by under half a tenth.

Despite the close brush with the podium, Zarco was adamant after the race that he wasn’t disappointed to having missed out on a top three, his focus solely on how thrilling the fight at the front of the field was.

“Being disappointed about the final result would be the wrong way to analyse the race,” said Zarco. “1.8s from the winner, and [in the fight] for the podium, even second place… no, no way to be disappointed.

“It was a good feeling, I was able to fight, to overtake. I lived some moments that I never lived before in my life. Fighting at this speed is so incredible.

“I tried to get the second place because I was feeling good behind Rossi, he is so strong on the brakes, closing the line well. You can see has the experience.

“I tried have better acceleration but changing the line in the last corner, finally instead of second place I came fourth. But no worries, after this kind of fight, and kind of day, I can just enjoy and take this fantastic moment.”

Zarco added that the race reminded him of a high-speed Moto3 duel, and admitted that there were a few eye-opening moments.

“The emotion fighting over 300km/h… you can fight on another circuit, but here you are really not many times under 200km/h, so it is incredible. I want to call my coach and see the race again.

“Maybe it was like a Moto3 race, but we were 100km/h plus [faster]. As I said, you have to live this emotion to believe it.”

He also opened up on his clash with Marquez early in the race, saying he felt he got as good as he gave across the bruising 27-lap affair.

“Maverick overtook [Marquez] at Turn 4 and I was almost at the same speed,” he explained.

“Marquez we know he is also strong coming into the corners with good speed, so it was not possible to slow down more, and I had to touch him.

“He was clever because when you feel that something is wrong with the rear of his bike, he picked up the bike and saved it.

“So it was hot, but then he did the same to Valentino and [Andrea] Iannone did the same to me into Turn 6, and then even [Cal] Crutchlow touched me in the knee. We are fighters and we must keep fighting.”

Zarco's fourth-place finish confirms his status at this season's Rookie of the Year, an award which teammate Jonas Folger's absence from the last two races had all but guaranteed.