Austin MotoGP crash strangest of Vinales' career

Vinales arrived in America already 14 points clear in the standings having won in Qatar and Argentina on his first two starts for Yamaha, and after dominating testing following his winter move from Suzuki.

But at Austin he fell on only the second lap when running fourth, and intimated the fault may lay with Michelin tyre inconsistencies.

"I couldn't have done anything about this crash," said Vinales, who is now six points behind Yamaha team-mate and new championship leader Valentino Rossi and 12 clear of Austin winner Marc Marquez in third.

"I know the tyre was not as good as this morning, because on the left side I had some warning at the start of the second lap.

"I'm disappointed about the race for myself and the team because they worked really good all weekend and then you get a tyre without the same grip we had in the morning and I crashed doing the same thing as the morning.

"If I crashed doing 2m04s trying to catch Marc or fighting for the victory, I know it was my mistake.

"Like this, you waste some points for nothing.

"Last year in all the races I just crashed in Argentina, in the wet.

"All the other tracks I've been more on the limit.

"That's why I feel strange. I've never crashed like that in my career.

"That's why I'm calm, because I know it wasn't my mistake. I know there was something [else]."

Vinales admitted the crash was a blow in a title fight he had previously looked to be taking control of, but said it would not change how he approached the rest of what he expects to be a head-to-head championship battle with Marquez.

"I approach the championship in the same way, race-by-race-by-race, and give our 100%," he said.

"For sure, that mistake costs us a lot, but we know we can do it.

"Marc and myself today were riding on another pace.

"We know we can fight each other."