Gearbox issue led to Zarco’s Portugal MotoGP crash

The erstwhile championship leader led the early stages of Sunday’s Algarve race, before falling behind race winner Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha and Suzuki’s Alex Rins.

Zarco was promoted to second when Rins crashed on lap 19, but the Frenchman would suffer the same fate a tour later.

He admits he initially thought he had made a mistake, but analysis after the race revealed a…