Valentino Rossi says he does not “understand what happened” when he crashed out of the lead of his “best race of the season” at Turn 1 four laps from the end of the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix.
Rossi hit the front from second on the grid at the start and remained at the head of the pack until the the start of lap lap 17, when he crashed at Turn 1 while being pursued by eventual winner Marc Marquez.
The Yamaha rider – who rejoined to finish a distant 18th – was left bemused by the accident, but remained positive about the performance demonstrated by his M1 at Sepang, and believes he has been able to “use the bike in a better way” in recent races.
“Was a great shame because this was the best race of the season,” said Rossi, whose hopes of fighting for second in the standings were ended by the tumble.
“I felt comfortable, I have a good pace and I push and I have the chance to win. But unfortunately four, five laps to go – I don't understand what happened – but I did a mistake and I crashed.
“It's a great shame, but remains a good weekend because we improved the set-up of the bike.
“I think we have to work, but in the last races looks like we are able to use the bike in a better way. So this is good, but we have to see if we are strong also in Valencia.
“That is one difficult track for us in general, but we have to try.”
Vinales: Race lost in qualifying
Teammate Maverick Vinales once again displayed race-winning pace on the sister works M1, but could only manage fourth after a wet qualifying left him 11th, with the Spaniard conceding that he “lost the race in qualifying”.
“Yesterday, I already said, we lost the race in the qualifying because now in MotoGP everything is so tight you have to start in the front,” said Vinales, who is now just two points down on third-placed Rossi in the standings.
“The tyres get much more worn when you are coming from the back, behind; overtaking riders, you destroy the tyres.
“I was close to the podium, but finally four laps to go the tyre had lost too much grip, I could do nothing.
“The team provided me with a really good bike. I think if I started from the front I could have battled for the race [win].
“So I'm actually really happy that in three different tracks I am able to have the chance to win the race.”
