“Point One: Marc had many crashes and could not race. Point Two: In the pre-season we were very fast a🎃nd then suddenly Michelin changed the tyre and our bike was also changed completely," Puig said.

"We still don’t fully understand what happ🎐ened and we will have to discuss deeply with Michelin the tyre situation.

"To go from being very, very fast one month ago to the situation we are in this weekend, it’s very diffic൩ult for our riders to be consistent and have confidence. Overall, wᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe can’t be happy.”

Pol Espargaro had gone further on Sunday, putting team-mate Marquez's huge warm-up accident down to an 🐲'external partner choice'.

Espargaro h𒐪ad been fastest at last month's Mandalika test, when all four Honda riders set a very strong rac𓂃e pace on the all-new RC213V, putting them as favourites for the race weekend.

But blistering issues due to the searing heat saw Michelin call-up a special heat-resistant tyre casing for the grand prix - not used since Burir𒆙am 2018 - onto w🐼hich the latest compounds were attached.

While ultimate lap times were the same as the test, the un𒐪familiar stiffer carcass shuffled the deck.

Ducati and KTM appeared to take a step forward, with riders 🐼such as Jack Miller enjoyin🍎g the stability of the modified casing. Yamaha and Aprilia performed roughly the same, Fabio Quartararo matching Espargaro's best test lap for pole position.

But Suzuki and especially Honda struggled for rear grip. Such issues were magnified by relying more on the front tyre to turn, cauওsing overheating problems♏.

In other words, they were suffering for both one-lap speed and race dista൲nce endurance.

By the end of Saturday, the top Honda of Marc Marquez was only 15th on the grid, after three accidents, with Espargaro directly behind and openly questioningꦅ if his front tyre could finish the ra꧒ce.

LCR Honda riders Alex Mar൲quez and Takaaki Nakagami, who had delivered among the best race simulations at the test, qualified 19th and last (24th) respectively.

Despite Ri🍬ns qualifying in eighth, the tyre situation was similar at Suzuki.

"With the front tyre we are on the limit," said Rins. "But when we tried the hardest 💛compound, it𒐪 was too hard."

T༺eam-mate and former world champion Joan Mir, starting down in 18th, felt he was more 🅷likely to fall than finish.

"I’m struggling a lot to find the correct setting, the electronics, the geometry, everything. I’m almost crashing in every𝕴 corner, I'm going really on the limit and I'm not able to be strong," Mir said on Saturday afternoon.

"I was struggling for rear grip with the [normal 2022] carcass. With this [modified] one, I’m struggling even more. The biggest problem is going into the corners. I don’t have grip going in fast and the✨ rear wants to come around.

"I will be not able to, in these conditions, finish༺ the race. I think I will crash, honestly. I’m too much on the limit in every corner and like this it’s really easy to make a mistake."

A Sunday afternoon downpour and familiar wet weather tyres washed away such concerns for the race, but not before a lack of rear grip into cor♈ners had bitten Marc Marquez spectacularly in warm-up.

The eight-time world champion's final accident of a punishing weekend saw the rear step out at almost 200km/h on tಞhe entry to Turn 7. The resulting highside left the Spaniard unfit to race due to concussion.