Alex Rins described his fall, which was his third straight score, a “disaster” and admitted that he is currently in a “bad moment” for results.
The Suzuki racer fought his way back from a low 15th place on the grid for the French Grand Prix on the opening tour and crossed the finish line in sixth. The three-time premier class winner made further progress in the early rain-affected laps and finished third when he left the pits after switching to his wet groomed GSX-RR.
However, he saw his chances of victory being dashed when he lost the front of his machine at Turn 4 when he left the pits, while another fall later, after getting back on his first bike, ended his race forever when he got his second DNF recorded three competitions in the past, the other was not ranked due to an early departure at the Spanish GP in Jerez.
After Rins fell back for the lead at the Algarve International Circuit in the fight against the eventual Portuguese GP winner and current championship leader Fabio Quartararo, Rins is now on 12th place.
Rins revealed a little pull on the front brake to allow his Suzuki to turn more efficiently at Turn 4 as he exited the pit lane, which was to blame for his first crash, while he would fall victim to an accident hotspot late at Turn 3 The Spaniard, his third Not accepting consecutive scores from a front position is a “disaster”.
“Of course I did the impossible and at the end of the first lap I crossed the finish line in fifth or sixth, that was unbelievable,” explained Rins.
“Then it started to rain a bit and I started pushing harder and was able to catch up with the leading group, I overtook Maverick (Vinales) and came third when I got into the pits and then came out at Turn 4, normally you use the front don’t brake when exiting the box and today I braked a little to make turning the bike a little easier and I lost the front.
“At that point it was a disaster, but I picked up the bike and went back to the pits to change wheels but the other one still had the dry setup but I stayed out 1-2 laps for the Tire and warm up everything and I felt it react.
“I had Fabio (Quartararo) in front and (Takaaki) Nakagami in the back and we all drove the same lap times, but then I lost the lead in the third corner and that was it.
“We’re in a bad moment to talk about results, but I felt so strong on the bike here at Le Mans and we’ve struggled a lot in the past.
“We were pretty good in dry conditions so I’ll go back and work on improving for the next time, but I’m optimistic for Mugello, even if we could start at a disadvantage compared to the Ducati and Honda.”
Mir’s tricky defense of the title continues
Reigning world champion teammate Joan Mir aggravated a tough French foray for Suzuki when he fatally pitted just moments ahead of his teammate as he tried to pit back in the treacherous conditions to switch bikes.
One frustrated Mir says he “didn’t even try to overtake anyone” as he simply wanted to survive to switch to his rain-ready GSX-RR and regretted a “good opportunity” to get a podium result.
“It’s a shame because I was in a very difficult situation to be on the track on the slicks with a lot of water and I didn’t try to overtake anyone,” said Mir.
“A lot of drivers tried to profit from the situation and I just wanted to pit and change tires so that I could push because I usually have a lot of speed in the wet.
“I didn’t expect the fall and then I couldn’t pit, so I’m very disappointed, but those are mistakes you can make sometimes and it’s important to learn from them.
“The championship isn’t over yet, but it’s frustrating because we missed a really good opportunity to be on the podium.
“We just have to go to Mugello and give everything. I’m generally happy with the weekend I crashed in FP2, which cost me the chance to get into Q2, so we definitely need to improve there, but my pace in wet and dry conditions was good, I think I took a step this weekend that is positive. ”