Pol 'nightmare', Honda 'deep discussion with Michelin', Mir 'like Marquez'

“Point One: Marc had many crashes and could not race. Point Two: In the pre-season we were very fast and then suddenly Michelin changed the tyre and our bike was also changed completely," Puig said.

"We still don’t fully understand what happened and we will have to discuss deeply with Michelin the tyre situation.

"To go from being very, very fast one month ago to the situation we are in this weekend, it’s very difficult for our riders to be consistent and have confidence. Overall, we can’t be happy.”

Pol Espargaro had gone further on Sunday, putting team-mate Marquez's huge warm-up accident down to an 'external partner choice'.

Espargaro had been fastest at last month's Mandalika test, when all four Honda riders set a very strong race pace on the all-new RC213V, putting them as favourites for the race weekend.

But blistering issues due to the searing heat saw Michelin call-up a special heat-resistant tyre casing for the grand prix - not used since Buriram 2018 - onto which the latest compounds were attached.

While ultimate lap times were the same as the test, the unfamiliar stiffer carcass shuffled the deck.

Ducati and KTM appeared to take a step forward, with riders such as Jack Miller enjoying the stability of the modified casing. Yamaha and Aprilia performed roughly the same, Fabio Quartararo matching Espargaro's best test lap for pole position.

But Suzuki and especially Honda struggled for rear grip. Such issues were magnified by relying more on the front tyre to turn, causing overheating problems.

In other words, they were suffering for both one-lap speed and race distance endurance.

By the end of Saturday, the top Honda of Marc Marquez was only 15th on the grid, after three accidents, with Espargaro directly behind and openly questioning if his front tyre could finish the race.

LCR Honda riders Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, who had delivered among the best race simulations at the test, qualified 19th and last (24th) respectively.

Despite Rins qualifying in eighth, the tyre situation was similar at Suzuki.

"With the front tyre we are on the limit," said Rins. "But when we tried the hardest compound, it was too hard."

Team-mate and former world champion Joan Mir, starting down in 18th, felt he was more likely to fall than finish.

"I’m struggling a lot to find the correct setting, the electronics, the geometry, everything. I’m almost crashing in every corner, I'm going really on the limit and I'm not able to be strong," Mir said on Saturday afternoon.

"I was struggling for rear grip with the [normal 2022] carcass. With this [modified] one, I’m struggling even more. The biggest problem is going into the corners. I don’t have grip going in fast and the rear wants to come around.

"I will be not able to, in these conditions, finish the race. I think I will crash, honestly. I’m too much on the limit in every corner and like this it’s really easy to make a mistake."

A Sunday afternoon downpour and familiar wet weather tyres washed away such concerns for the race, but not before a lack of rear grip into corners had bitten Marc Marquez spectacularly in warm-up.

The eight-time world champion's final accident of a punishing weekend saw the rear step out at almost 200km/h on the entry to Turn 7. The resulting highside left the Spaniard unfit to race due to concussion.