Garrett Gerloff had just re-signed with Yamaha to race again in WorldSBK for 2022 before the Assen weekend but the potential for strong results, and a great ride in race one - to go from the last row after a crash in Superpole to sixth place - were all almost forgotten about after a first corner, first lap, race two crash.

Almost everyone, including Gerloff this time, blamed Gerloff for diving inside and getting in too hot, taking out his own Yamaha brand-mate, Toprak Razgatlioglu as they collided.

“I'm devastated and I can only apologise to Toprak and to Yamaha for today. I got a good start from the third row of the grid, I felt the contact in turn one, but I didn't realise it was Toprak until I looked back," said Gerloff.

"I'm sorry for him, as he paid a big price for my mistake, but also for Yamaha, who have worked tirelessly to mount a championship challenge. I can only apologise to both, although I am well aware that this won't change the outcome.”

It was not Gerloff’s first mistake of the weekend as he crashed out of Superpole, and that caused him issues right up until Race Two, when he could at least start from the third row.

“Yeah, it determined a lot of things,” said Gerloff, who crashed by taking the dip in one of the faster apexes a little too heavy, grounding out his engine cases.

“It’s difficult,” said Gerloff of that accident. “I’ll try to justify it, but there’s no justification. I hit that curb twenty times this weekend. I don’t hit it every lap, but I do hit that inside curb often. I’ve never had any issues with it. That’s why I keep using it.

"I went to use it again on the Superpole tyre, and I was about three kilometers an hour faster, with the similar lean angle but probably this far (he indicated an inch or so) closer in. Basically, when it bottomed right there, the engine touched and it lifted the front.

"I wish that that would have happened in FP3 instead of Superpole, in a session that didn’t have any consequence. Anyway, there’s nothing I can do. That’s just what it was. Then the bike was fine until the last minute when it flipped a couple times, and then the electronics got pulled apart.

"That was one of the reasons why I wasn’t able to get the bike back to the pits. So, it was just frustrating. I know I have some speed and I know I can do something, but this keeps happening. It just makes it a lot tougher for me, for sure.”

In the opening race of the weekend Gerloff’s pace was astounding as he came through to finish sixth from 21st place on the grid. “Yeah, I feel like we’ve been decently consistent all week,” said Gerloff on Saturday. “I feel like the whole GRT team and myself, we’ve been doing really well finding a setup that works over distance.

"I always feel like I’m pretty good at the end of the race, which is compliments to the R1 and the setup that I have. For sure, I felt like if I would have been able to start higher, farther up, that I could have been fighting for a podium, for sure.”