Marc Marquez admits the “many crashes”, including that of rival Andrea Dovizioso, in the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix forced to him settle for second in Sunday's race.
Marquez led on the opening lap, but was usurped by eventual race winner Jorge Lorenzo at the start of lap two.
The Honda rider shadowed Lorenzo, and attempted a push late on with his harder tyres to try and catch the soft-clad Ducati rider.
However, Lorenzo's tyres remained intact, while a moment on the same lap Dovizioso crashed out, and the numeorus other falls, forced him to think about his championship situation after his Mugello race tumble.
“I was waiting for Jorge to overtake me, and already on the first straight he overtook,” Marquez, whose points leads extended to 27 after the Catalunya race, said.
“I tried to follow him, I was pushing a lot because my mentality was try to follow him to open the gap to the others, and I was able.
“In one moment I lose the front in the same lap Dovi crashed, then I start to see many yellow flags in the circuits, many crashes, and after Mugello I missed some confidence.
“This weekend I already crashed two times, big save in the last corner [in FP4].
“So was time to finish the race, 20 points, and last lasp I tried to keep pushing to see if Lorenzo dropped with the tyres.
“But were dropping in the same way, but I just managed the distance from Valentino [Rossi] and finished in second.”
Marquez admits his strategy did not change when Dovizioso fell, as his “focus” was on his riding and to “forget the others” around him.
“No, because my strategy was clever and I was so focused just on my riding, forget the others, and when you finish in second place, inside my mind I'm missing something.
“But if we check the championship, we increase the advantage, we are now 27 points in front.
“So, happy because the worst result this year is a second place. The other races [I didn't finish second] is because I crashed, so we need to manage this and be constantly on the podium.”
