Rins "felt like winning" Austria MotoGP race was possible before crash

Rins ran in the lead group from the off in the restarted 20-lap Austrian GP and was lapping faster than the Ducati's ahead of him, passing Pramac's Jack Miller for second on lap 10.

Going after Dovizioso, Rins went for a pass on the inside of the factory Ducati rider at Turn 6 on the following lap but lost the front of his Suzuki just as he took the lead.

Priro to the race, eventual winner Dovizioso had touted the Suzukis to be a threat on Sunday, with Rins admitting the feeling he had during the race was one he has "not felt many times" in his career.

"Everything was going very well, I honestly felt like winning the race," Rins said.

"This feeling, I have not felt it many times, but I really felt [able] to win.

"It was a shame, but the two Suzukis were there, Joan [Mir] finished on the podium, a great result for the brand.

"So we'll see what happens next week".

Rins had a moment on the front end of his Suzuki at the same corner he crashed the lap before, and thinks his fall was a result of braking with slightly more lean angle than in previous tours.

"Perhaps the mistake was trying to stop the bike with more [lean] angle," Rins added.

"From what we have seen in the telemetry, when I turned on the throttle I was much more inclined than in the previous lap, and that was what made me lose the front end."

Mir admits pre-weekend he considered a rostrum charge "difficult", and thinks improved qualifying form (he started sixth in the original race) and his start "made the difference" in his charge to a maiden podium in second.

"Well, before the weekend if you said I would be on the podium, I'd say it will be difficult for sure," Mir said.

"But the truth is that bike works really well here, in FP1 I felt so good here in Austria.

"When you start with a good base it's easier to approach a little bit the weekend.

"It was a hard one, fighting with these guys [Dovizioso and Miller] is difficult.

"In sector one and two they are really strong, but then looks like our bike is quite competitive and quite good. So, a good podium for me.

"I think we made the difference in this weekend because we improved the qualifying and then the start was good.

"[That] was our weak point. Normally we have a good race pace, but we struggle [usually in qualifying] and it is difficult then to recover positions."