Marc Marquez' return to the business end of MotoGP competition took another hit at Mugello when a crash saw him deprived of the laps he desperately needs.
The former champion was expected to be challenging for top five finishes by now but found himself in the Italian kitty litter after riding into the side of Brad Binder at turn two.
"Unfortunately we finished the race earlier than we expected and it was the worst thing for me because of course I need laps and kilometres on the bike," said Marquez, speaking at the track.
"It's true that I had contact with Brad Binder, we can say it's a racing incident because specifically at that point on the track similar crashes have happened many times before.
"But okay, it can be a racing incident, but if someone was at fault it's me. Because I came into turn two, just I didn’t see him, I thought he was further back and when we did the change of direction we made contact and I crashed.
"Lucky, I crashed alone, because like I say it was a race incident but my fault, so this was okay for me. Surely the race would have been a long one, but we have taken a step forward this weekend.
"I understood some things and the good thing is that next week we race again and I'll be fresher because I didn't complete the race today."
