Alex Rins: A podium, I don’t know...

Starting twelfth, Rins climbed through the field to fifth by the midway stage, when the fogging problems began.

The Spaniard eventually dropped to ninth place by the finish

“It was not a good result,” he said. “10-15 laps from the end I started to have some problems with fog inside the visor and I could not see anything.

“I started to lose positions because of this. I could not see the lines or the kerbs so it was a disaster.

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“In the wet warm-up and qualifying it was fine. But not in the race. I [lifted] the visor up and down on the straight and tried many things.

“Before that I was riding quite well. The bike was super and the grip on the maximum angle, compared to the previous bike [Suzuki] I was riding, this one had a lot of traction and on the front I was able to stop the bike.

“So it was a real shame because – a podium I don’t know – but top five-six I was able [to achieve].”

Johann Zarco, behind Rins when the fogging problems began, went on to claim a podium.

Rins confirmed he had raced with the newer RCV chassis, given to him by HRC due to Marc Marquez’s absence, and will have access to it again in COTA, when Marquez is expected to return.

LCR team-mate Takaaki Nakagami finished 13th.