Honda rider Jorge Lorenzo says he dropped to the back of the field at the start of MotoGP’s Argentina race because he accidentally engaged the pit limiter.
Lorenzo started his second race for Honda from 12th, but plummeted to 21st on the opening lap at Termas de Rio Hondo.
He eventually fought back to finish in his starting spot, albeit only after gaining two places on the last lap when Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli came to blows and crashed out.
As well as revealing the cause of his sluggish getaway, Lorenzo said he was further hampered by a rubber grip on his left handlebar disintegrating during what he described as a “nightmare” race.
“With the pit limiter, it looks like I pressed it unconsciously because I remember just pressing the start procedure button,” Lorenzo recalled.
“Suddenly the bike, the rpm goes down like [it had] no fuel and I didn’t know what was going on, but it looks like the button of the pit start was on and the bike didn’t go, so everyone overtook me [and] I was last position again like in Qatar.
“When I started to recover positions, I felt I was missing some rubber on the left handlebar – [it] was coming out, out, out and I was [left] with no rubber in my left hand. So no grip at all, everything [was] bad.
“[It was] very difficult race to recover positions, also the track grip was very bad after Moto2 race and with hotter conditions, so it was like a nightmare.
“Hopefully in the future this kind of strange and unlucky things will not happen again.”
Lorenzo admitted his issues have left him looking like he is making “excuses” for his tough start at the factory Honda squad.
“I was very happy in the warm-up because we tried something on the bike that improved my feeling a lot and I went three tenths, half a second faster,” he added.
“But in the race with these hotter conditions and the unusual problems, I couldn’t get the potential.
“[It] looks like from the outside that I am look for excuses, but it’s unbelievable what is happening. “The only good thing is we finished the race; in Qatar 13th, here 12th.
“These are very bad positions but we need to look forward, to forget the past and I’m sure sooner or later we will be more lucky.”