Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso branded his crash from the lead of the MotoGP French Grand Prix as “unacceptable” for a rider fighting for the world championship.
Dovizioso only qualified fifth at Le Mans, but was confident his pace would see him fighting for victory, with eventual race winner Marc Marquez feeling the Italian had 'special pace' for Sunday's race.
Taking the lead with a move on Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo at the Dunlop chicane at the start of lap five, Dovizioso crashed just seconds later after he ran slightly wide at La Chapelle.
Dovizioso – who also crashed out of podium contention at the last round at Jerez – admitted it was his own mistake, and felt he could have fought for the win “quite easily” with a bike he lauded as “simply terrific”.
“I'm really gutted, this time it was only my mistake,” Dovizioso, who now languishes 49 points adrift of standings leader Marquez now in ninth, said.
“I went a bit wide at Turn 6, I didn't think I had any problems with the front turning in, but it did.
“It's a real pity because today I had good sensations and a chance of fighting for the win, I think, quite easily, and it is an unacceptable error for someone like myself who wants to fight for the title.
“At this moment in time it's hard to digest the mistake I made, because I usually don't make any.
“But unfortunately races are sometimes like that, and now we have to look to the future.
“I want to say sorry to the team and the guys in Ducati Corse, because we did an outstanding job this weekend, we came to the race in perfect condition and our bike was simply terrific.”
Teammate Lorenzo led for the first nine laps of the Le Mans race, but faded to sixth by the chequered flag having struggled under braking on a full fuel tank, which left him “completely exhausted”.
Lorenzo said: “The problem today, apart from the turning ability on the front, but I need something in the full tank of the bike that supports my weight under braking.
“I really put in a lot of effort on the braking zone. I finished the race completely exhausted, and we need to find a solution in Montmelo test, and we are going to work on that.
“I'm convinced that if we manage to resolve these final details, we can fight for podiums and the wins.
“In any case we finished the race and, after my DNF at Jerez, this was also one of today's objectives.”
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