Rossi’s costly crash in Malaysia has been explained. After the race, Rossi said: “I don’t know what happened. I made a mistake, because I crashed.”

Now the Movistar Yamaha team has revealed the sequence of events that saw him hit the deck, after leading for 16 of 20 laps.

Manager Massimo Meregalli, talking to Dorna, said that it had been triggered by a slide that increased the lean angle … and then the footrest touched down, lifted the rear wheel, and he was down.

“Unfortunately the engine stalled, and he wasn’t able to restart quickly,” he added.

By Michael Scott

Photos GnG

Rossi, Valencia MotoGP 2018