Vinales: A bike hit my wheel and I just flew

A weekend of on and off-track drama for Maverick Vinales ended with the Spanish star being sent flying in a first lap accident at the Czech Republic MotoGP.

"I honestly don't know what happened. I just saw I think one bike coming across, hit my wheel and I just flew," said Vinales, taken down after Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith collided.

"This is the consequence of starting twelfth. You can be involved in those crashes."

Vinales' weekend had been more remarkable for off rather than on-track developments, with confirmation that he will change crew chief next season prompting a robust response from existing chief mechanic Ramon Forcada.

Tension in the garage increased when Vinales was forced to take part in Qualifying 1 after a mistake with his soft-tyre strategy in FP3.

A set-up breakthrough then occurred in morning warm-up, when he was a close fifth quickest (+0.2s), but Vinales lamented it had taken so long.

"To find the set-up in warm-up is too late. We should find out Friday afternoon. But we need to keep working and for sure give more attention to FP3 to go into Qualifying 2 directly," he said.

"I improved 1.2s on the rhythm [in warm-up] and honestly I was quite enthusiastic for the race, because I thought the soft tyre could arrive really good at the end. I was fast. This morning with a used tyre I could keep the '56."

Did the cooler temperature help?

"Not actually a lot, because in the traction it was very similar. We improved the lap time by braking and corner speed."

Could he have fought with the leaders?

"I think so. Because this morning I was able to make really good lap times. At least like the top guys and actually when I made the warm-up lap for the race the grip of the tyres felt really good. So I think I was able to at least be on the same lap times, for sure."

Vinales' first DNF since Assen last year has now dropped him from third to fourth in the world championship, behind Sunday's winner Andrea Dovizioso.

"Honestly I don't even think about the championship, Jorge or Dovi. I try to focus on myself to improve and find a way to improve the set-up for Austria, which is most important."

The Spaniard also insisted he didn't need time to clear his head after the off-track controversy.

"I don't think I have to clear my head. When I put the helmet on I forget everything and I try to make my best always and I work really hard every day trying to be in the front.

"So I think what we should do is really pay attention to the changes on the bike and which set-up we want to use because it's really important. I ride different than the other Yamaha riders I think, I'm a little bit more aggressive, so I need different things."

Vinales is due to take part in Monday's post-race test when Yamaha is due to have some new parts to try.

"I don’t know yet. Depends how I wake up tomorrow from the crash. Let's see if I'm okay or not."

Team-mate Valentino Rossi finished the race in fourth place.