Injured Rins feared 'bike would hit Jack', stays at Jerez

Alex Rins was forced to watch the season-opening Spanish MotoGP from the paddock after being ruled out by an injury in qualifying.

The Suzuki star suffered a fracture and dislocation in his right shoulder, plus associated muscle and tendon damage, but has opted to remain at Jerez in the hope of being passed fit for next weekend's Andalusian round.

"I was full of pain this morning after the painkillers wore off," Rins said. "I was here at 8:30 with Dr Charte and Dr Mir to decide if I should stay in Jerez and try to ride on Friday, or go home and recover for Brno [August 7-9].

"We've decided to stay and work hard here in Jerez to see if I can ride the bike on Friday. On Thursday we will do a last Medical check.

"The problem is the shoulder popped out and the tendon is very damaged. Now I need to reduce the inflammation. After this I will start to move and let’s see how it goes."

Rins lost the front of his GSX-RR as he tipped in to the fast Turn 11 right-hander, just moments after Jack Miller had fallen at the same corner. The Spaniard then went spearing into the gravel, where he was tossed brutally from his machine.

"My bike was still running so I went over to hit the off button and as I was doing that I just heard [a bike in the gravel]. So I shit myself and looked up!" Miller said yesterday.

Rins explained: "It was very strange what happened with the crash. I started to lean and immediately lost the front.

"I knew Jack was on the floor, so I decided to pick up the bike. Otherwise, if I lost the front and fell then the bike would hit Jack. This was the reason.

"I held the bike up but went into the gravel too fast, lost the rear and got thrown into the sky! It was very similar to the save that Marc [Marquez] made today in the race, but my run-off area was less than him."

After making the early save and charging back through the pack, reigning champion Marquez suffered a big highside and now joins Rins and Cal Crutchlow on the injured list. Meanwhile, Yamaha claimed a one-two finish with Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales.

"I was watching the race here on the Suzuki terrace with all my mechanics," Rins said.

"We paid a lot of attention to the tyre selection because Maverick did the race with soft-soft tyres and I had that in mind also. Looks like he had small problems in the front. It was a strange race.

"I’ll say congratulations to Fabio because he’s been fighting for the victory in these last races."

Finally, Rins addressed the Saturday morning controversy with Marquez, which saw the Suzuki rider held up on his final lap in FP3, costing him any chance of going directly into Qualifying 2.

The Honda rider escaped a penalty due to the presence of a yellow flag, but Rins disagrees.

"The team went to Race Direction because it’s not the first time Marc made this," he said. "It happened on my last flying lap in FP3, when I had the chance to enter in Q2.

"I did the first corner. Then the second corner, I don’t know which rider was on the floor, but he was up walking and the bike was up with the marshals.

"Jack heard my bike and decided to open the line to allow me to pass. But then Marc already knew I was behind him. This yellow flag was on corner two, but I couldn’t overtake Marc until corner five so it was clear.

"Race Direction decided to do nothing. I don't agree with this. That’s all."