Ecstar Suzuki factory rider Alex Rins said that he apologised to Franco Morbidelli, after the Spaniard took out the Italian at the bottom of the hill on the opening lap of the MotoGP race in Aragon.

The Spaniard was trying to cut through the field to make up for a poor qualifying performance, when at the bottom of the hill on the opening lap, Rins came flying up the inside of the Yamaha man.

Morbidelli was left in the gravel, whilst Rins was handed a long-lap penalty, seeing him drop all the way down from twelfth to nineteenth, before recovering to finish in ninth place, just four seconds behind Valentino Rossi.

“First of all, I want to say sorry to Franky for what happened,” said the 23-year-old. “I went to see him directly after the race to apologise, it was a difficult day.

“I had a long lap penalty, which I completely accept, but I then I had to try and fight back through the pack.

“Anyway, ninth position isn’t too bad given everything that happened during the race. I need to try and improve my qualifying, let’s see what happens in Thailand.”