Du෴e to line-up sixth on the grid, the Aprilia rider instead dived into pit lane at the end of the warm-up lap, ditching his RS-GP and frantically grabbing the spare bike.

Espargaro later revealed that his number one machine had b♛een stuck in a special fuel-saving ‘eco’ map, designed only to be used from the pits to൲ the grid.

“They made a mistake, and they didn't remove the fuel-saving map which doesn't allow you to go over 4-5,000 RPM or more than 1🦩00k per hour," Espargaro explained.

“I tried everything, but it was not working.”

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After the unplanned bike swap, Espargaro joined the race 25th and last but al🔯ready knew his chances were over.

“I changed bikes in the pits, b𝔉ut the second bike had the soft rear tyre [instead of the medium] and I can't ride with that tyre,” he said.

“I knew i🐠t from the beginning. The bike was just pushing the frꦰont. I was also very nervous and making a lot of mistakes, so I decided to stay out on track just to wait for a red flag or whatever. But it didn’t arrive.”

Espargaro eventually crossed the line in 16th p🌟lace, five-seconds f♓rom Cal Crutchlow and the final world championship point.

It was a far cry from what he felt was possible:

“[To] win, 100%. Even with a soft t𒆙yre a♒nd the second bike I was in ’46.0 for many laps.

“So with the medium tyre and my number🐎 one bike I'm sure I could stay in 45-half, at least൲ at the level of Jack [Miller, race winner]. So it's a shame.”

Quartararo eighth, Bagnaia crash ‘makes it worse’

Espargaro also took no consolation from the fact that world champio🥃nship leader Fabio Quartararo could only manage eighth place on Sunday, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out trying to pass the Frenchman on the last lap.

“For me, this is worse, because I lost a big opportuniဣty. If they finished first and second, it would be worse for the championship, but I will not be that sad,” Espargaro said.

“I'm very sad because I knew today I was faster than them and it's very d♕ifficult to be faster than Pecco and Fabio. It’s very rare, for me.”

Espargaro has now dropped from 17 to 25 points bꦕehind Quartararo and remains 7 from Bagnaia.

Espargaro: ‘A huge mistake, but we are humans’

Espargꦫaro knows as well as anyone that human errors can happen, having backed off with one lap still to go in♋ Barcelona earlier this season.

“This is our job and it's a mistake that can happen ever🍒ywhere,” he said of the Eco map issue. “It's a big mistake, a huge mistake. But we are humans, we𒅌 are a team.

“Now I will go to the box, I have no strength, I don’t know how to do it, but I need to support [the𝓰 team] because it's a mistake and it can ha🎶ppen.

“I don't care about the championship, I want to🌄 win in Thailand. It’s the only thing on ♚my mind, try to win in Thailand."

Free Practice for the Thai Gran🅺🥀d Prix, the first of four remaining rounds, starts on Friday.

Espargaro's team-mate Maverick Vinalesꩲ finish🐭ed seventh at Motegi.