Rins led the race in the early stages before eventual winner Fabio Quartararo got past Turn 1 on the ninth of 25 laps.
The two ran astern for the next 10 tours and ran almost identically when they broke away from the chasing group.
But Rins’ hopes for a fourth MotoGP win were dashed when at Turn 5 he slipped Torre Vip hairpin from the second seven laps to go, sending Quartararo off to a comfortable second win of the 2021 season.
Rins says the data showed his braking point and pressure were exactly the same as the previous lap, while finding that he was driving at a “good limit”.
“I’m pretty impressed in the race because I’ve improved a lot compared to last year and in the end we didn’t get that price for the crash,” he said.
“I was driving at the limit, Fabio was really strong, but I was driving at this good limit.
“I mean, sometimes you’re at the limit, the bike wobbles, turns in every corner.
“But this time I drove very well, at the limit, but relaxed.
“I controlled the spin and tire wear very well.
“It’s a shame because we analyzed the data and I didn’t do anything wrong in this corner.
“It was the same braking point, the same braking pressure. But sometimes it happens. We have to keep looking ahead.
“I’m definitely not happy, but I’m happy with the way we approached the weekend.”
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Alex Rins, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Rins admits that even without the crash, winning the race against Quartararo would have been a challenge.
“I mean, Fabio explained it well, I pushed him,” he added.
“He showed a good pace [in FP4], and also when warming up. So he had a good pace.
“Okay, I knew we didn’t have the same pace as him, but I felt pretty good during the race.
“The crash is difficult to explain. After the crash it started with 1: 39.9s, 1m39.8s, 1m40.0s, 1m40.1s.
“I mean, if I don’t fall and we continue at this pace, I’ll definitely do the same lap time as him because the tires have a limit and it’s not easy to overtake on this track.
“The win was certainly a bit difficult, but we lost 20 very important points.”