Alvaro Bautista apologised after sliding o꧋ff on the opening lap on a miserable day for the Gresini Honda rider in Argentina - his third DNF in as many races.

Bautista, who started from t👍enth position, fell at Turn 5 after making contact with the rear of Aleix Espargaro's NGM Forward Yamaha.

Theꦇ Spaniard was also a faller in Qatar and Texas as he endures♏ a nightmare beginning to the 2014 season, taking zero points from the first three races.

"I really don't know what to say, I am very sor༒ry. It's a shame, because today I had a good feeling ahead of the race," said Bautistꦍa.

"The only thing we can do now is continue to work har🍬d, as always. We hope to🍷 reverse the trend the next weekend in Jerez."

Team boss Fausto Gresini ꦰadded: "The disappointment for Alvaro's crash is really high: here we haven't finished a lap and after the first two unfortunate races, leaving Argentina with still zero points in the standings 🧸is a shame."