Johann Zarco feels his clash with Miguel Oliveira during the British MotoGP was a racing incident but accepts his three-place grid drop for the next round at Misano.

The Red Bull KTM rider dived up the inside of Tech3’s Oliveira at Turn 14 on Lap 10 at Silverstone but with the Portuguese rider sticking to his normal racing line the pair collided and both went down.

Zarco felt his move wasn’t hugely risky having completed similar overtakes earlier this weekend, while he also revealed Oliveira said he had seen him but too late to react, as he accepts his penalty for the incident.

The FIM MotoGP Stewards have given the French rider a three-place grid penalty for the next round at Misano.

“I think it was a racing incident,” Zarco said. “Coming to Turn 14, I came in and slowed down to make the apex thinking he would see me, he saw me, he told me that he saw me, but a bit too late so he didn’t have enough time to pick up the bike,” Zarco said. “We were so slow so we just touched and crashed.

“It’s a shame as I did it during practice and it was working, I didn’t have any accidents, but that is the race. Even if it is a racing incident I got a three-place grid penalty for it for Misano but anyway it is part of the game.

“I do not judge it [the penalty]. They are doing their work and they give what they have to give me.”

Despite the disappointing end to his British round, Zarco looked at the positives having come into this weekend under the spotlight following his early split with Red Bull KTM at the end of this year.

“The race was under control for the level that we wished for and with the crashes in front we were fighting for the top 10 in a good group of Pol, Danilo, the two Aprilias, Miguel and me,” he said

“I am really sad for this situation, for Tech3 as they are a team that I like, and for our team too as it was a good opportunity too this weekend.

“Let’s see what we can do in Misano. It may be a tricky track that will be harder to bring the bike to the top 10 level but I am going to keep working and do all that I can to grab a good performance.”