Suzuki Ecstar Factory MotoGP rider Alex Rins said that he was sat behind Valentino Rossi in his final qualifying run, expecting ‘the Doctor’ to be going for it more than he did.

The Spaniard was sat in the second provisional second Q2 spot after the first run of qualifying laps but knew that his spot was in serious danger with Andrea Dovizioso lapping quickly.

Rossi on the other hand was sat down in a provisional eighteenth and in serious need of a quick lap to have any chance to a shot at making it through to Q2.

Knowing this, Rins decided to sit behind the Italian, however, a misjudgement by Rossi meant that they both missed the chequered flag and ended up not posting flying laps.

“I lost some confidence after my crash, but I recovered it in the later sessions,” said the Spaniard.

“For the final lap of Q1, I exited the pits at the same time as Rossi, he was behind me on the time sheets and I thought he would be pushing. So I intended to stay behind him on the track as it’s always easier here with a tow. But in the end the lap got messed up and I just lost out on Q2.

“Tomorrow I’ll try to put together a good race, there are many competitive riders at the front, and I’ll push hard to be up with them.”