Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales is mystified at the crash which eased Marc Marquez’ path to an historic fifth MotoGP win at Austin but knows it is a mistake that could prove costly in the final analysis.

Vinales went down on lap two, losing the front and sliding out of fourth place but says he didn’t have the same feeling from the front tyre as he had in morning warm-up.

“I couldn’t have done anything about this crash. I know the tyre was not as good as this morning, because on the left side I had some warning at the start of the second lap. For sure, that mistake costs us a lot, but we know we can do it. Marc and myself today were riding on another pace,” said Vinales, speaking at the track.

“I’m disappointed about the race for myself and the team because they worked really good all weekend and then you get a tyre without the same grip we had in the morning and I crashed doing the same thing as the morning. If I crashed doing 2’04s trying to catch Marc or fighting for the victory, I know it was my mistake. Like this, you waste some points for nothing.

“Last year in all the races I just crashed in Argentina in the wet. All the other tracks I’ve been more on the limit. That’s why I feel strange. I’ve never crashed like that in my career. That’s why I’m calm, because I know it wasn’t my mistake. I know there was something.”