Marc Marquez blamed an issue with his brakes for the crash that eliminated him from the lead of the Grand Prix of The Americas, denying him a shot at his first MotoGP victory for Ducati.

Much like he did last time out in Portugal, Marquez would again demonstrate strong form at Circuit of The Americas - scene of his very first MotoGP win back in 2013 - aboard the Gresini Racing Ducati, but missed out a bigger pay day by tumbling into his second Sunday retirement in as many races.

The incident curtailed what was shaping up to be a potential run at victory in his third event with the Italian manufacturer, but after showing strongly in the Sprint Race on Saturday with his run to second place behind Maverick Vinales, came away from the event in a buoyant mood.

“The positive from the weekend was that I was competitive, positive that I was leading the race,” he said. 

“But, unfortunately, during the race I had a problem with the front brake and I was running on a lot, which caused a crash. Unfortunately we crashed but we know why we crashed, which is most important.

“I just want to understand that this week was very good. The feeling with the bike was good, so let’s see if we can keep going and keep improving.”