It later transpired that the Australian rookie was batt▨ling visibility issues due to water seeping into 🅘his helmet.

"I feel slightly frustrated about R💞emy Gardner’s result because he is normally very stro✤ng in rainy conditions, so I did not understand when I saw him losing contact with Raul’s group," said Poncharal.

"When he came back to the box, he was unhappy with his helm⛎et which was full of water and considerably reduced his visibility.

"At this level, when♛ you know how much investment goes into a race, it is a great shame to be missing out on a potential good result because of a helmet problem like we had today, and I find it difficult to accept.

"Apart from this, he managed to finish the race, which is 𝔍good, and he also learnt a lot about his🧜 tyres and his bike in rainy conditions. I think that without his problem, he would have been fighting for the points in Raul’s group."

Gardner remained at the back of the field from lap 9 onwa☂rds, but was at least been able to up his pace once free from the spra🐎y of riders ahead. The reigning Moto2 champion matched the best race lap by team-mate Raul Fernandez (17th place) on the final lap.

"If I am honest, I expected more of the race today. I had some visibiꦺlity issues with the rain and it did not improve much when I was behind the others, but at least I took a lot of experience and managed to do the 20 laps," Gardner said.

"The last few laps, I found myself on my own, so I had less water comi🥃ng into my visor and was able to start improving my sectors and my times. I'll try to keep po𒀰sitive and move on to the next race.”

Gardner, top rookie with 15th on his MotoGP debut in Qatar, is now five points behind RNF Yamaha newcomer Darryn Binder, who finished tenth in the wet Mand🐬alika race.

Repsol Honda ܫteam manager Alberto Puig also said that his rider, Pol Espargaro, suffered visibility problems due to a helmet issue on Sunday.