Andrea Iannone was left disappointed after crashing out of the season-opening Qatar MotoGP race whilst fighting for the lead, believing he had a good shot of winning Ducati's first race in five years.
The Italian rider initially snatched the lead from Jorge Lorenzo and was followed by team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the second lap. The pair scrapped over the lead, with Dovizioso eventually passing Iannone.
Iannone then attempted to reclaim the lead at Turn 13, but ran onto the white line which caused him to lose control of his bike which saw him crash out of the race.
He expressed surprise at the crash, describing it as "strange".
"I am very disappointed, because we had a really good pace. From the beginning I pushed very hard, I was riding very sweet," he told the media after the event.
"But when I take a different line and touch the white line, I go down. It’s very strange, because usually the white line has grip but this time it’s very slippery."
Iannone reckons he had the pace to win the race: "For sure I’m not very happy because the pace was really strong – it’s difficult to accept because I’m sure it was possible to fight with Jorge.
"Next time we try another time – in another way, it’s positive because we have a good possibility to fight at the top in every race, and for sure this is my objective."
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