Johann Zarco’s grand prix, brutally taken away by Enea Bastianini on the rap, one of Hungary’s MotoGP sprint races, also ended with a gravel trap after his own mistake.
From the 18th, the French steadily rose to 12th along the way, searching for points on the course.
“In the race, the pace was very similar for all riders, so I think we were a little more competitive, but we couldn’t do anything more,” Zarco said.
“I benefited from a few crashes, and getting some points and closing out a tough weekend with something in my pocket was all okay.
“But I got a crash on Turn 8. I just went to the curb and the bike started moving and closing the front, so I wasn’t expecting it.
“I don’t know why I lost the flow on the bike, but I lost the pace, but since the last two races, I wasn’t fast enough to reach my target.
“I want to stay in the top 10 so I hope I can find it in Barcelona. I’m extremely disappointed in losing my emotions.
“I really hope that it will work out in Barcelona.
“So if I got back to the right speed in Barcelona, that means I couldn’t adapt my riding style to the Austrian and Hungarian layouts.”
The Frenchman scored 97 points from the opening round, but managed only 17 points from the final six rounds. He finished 9th in the World Championships, with Fabio Cartalaro’s only five points.
Meanwhile, the Factory HRC team had a best weekend of the season, with both Lucamarini and Joan Mir reaching 2 qualifying, fourth and sixth in the sprint, and fifth in the Marini at the Grand Prix.
The pair appeared to benefit from updated parts, including chassis that Zarco is still unavailable, despite the LCR riders being comfortable ahead of the world championships.
“Maybe, but clearly not for Barcelona,” Zarco said.
“We’ll take the Barcelona test after the Barcelona (GP) and try new parts and check out the aerodynamics.
“But this is the bike I have and I need to do it, so I need to find a solution for my bike at the moment.”
The Barcelona Motog Plow will be held from September 5th to 7th.
Zarco – the winner of this year’s French MotoGP and Suzuki 8 Hours – was riding alone in Hungary again after teammate Somkiat Chantra’s intended replacement, Aleix Espargaro, was on his own in Hungary after being sidelined with a cycling injury before the event.