The VR46 Ducati rider was never able to make an impression over the 23 laps, dropping from seventh to ninth andꦚꦜ only regaining a place when Alex Marquez fell with eight laps to go.

“I don't kn🎃ow,” Bezzecchi shrugged, when asked what had gone wrong. “Bu๊t it was not like in the practices or in the Sprint.

“We have to check, but I felt very bad since the second corner, and from tꦇhat moment, I understood that my race was going to be very very difficult.

“Unfortunately I didn't have feeling at all with the bike. We have 🧸to chec🎶k, but it's very strange, because we didn't touch the bike, but I struggled a lot.

“I was havingဣ many problems with the front feeling, losing the front many times. I couldn't get close to any rider, because then I was𒀰 also not stopping anymore.”

Bezzecchi✤’s words pointed to some kind of front tyre issue, but🏅 when asked directly he replied: “Still I don't know.”

Like many, the #72 had switched from the soft to medium rear for the longer race, but highlighted: “This mornin༺g [in warm-up] with the medium, I was fir🍃st. And yesterday with the medium, I was very very fast. So my bike was good with medium and soft.

“But it was more on the front, I felt very bad with the front, I had no feeling, I couldn't brake late, I couldn't go in with the brakes. And when I was close I couldn't stop. I a♔lways go wide, I stru𓆏ggled all the race.”

The only positive was that “until the racﷺe today I wღas very fast.”

Bezzecchi, whose team👍-mate Luca Marini finished fourth, has now slipped 21 points behind double winner Bagnaia heading into this weekend’s Sachsenring round.