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Francesco Bagnaia insists that his maneuver against Marc Márquez, which marked the end of his Portuguese MotoGP, was not risky.
The collision three laps from the end of the Portimao race, in fifth place, was investigated by the stewards and considered a racing incident.
But this caused Bagnaia to crash and Márquez to limp home in 16th place.
Bagnaia was asked if his attempt to dive inside Marquez carried risks.
He replied: “When it reached me, it went wide. When a guy is ahead of you and you’re fighting, does he swerve? What do you want to do? Overtake it again to score more points?
“On my part, it was not risky.”
Bagnaia added about the dramatic crash: “When Marc arrived, he tried to overtake. He went off course. I tried to cross the line. He crossed the line from him. And we collide.
“It’s something that makes me angry. But is normal. It’s a racing incident.
“We have to move forward.
“It makes me angry because I finished with zero points.
“Last year in the second race I did the same, I ended up with zero points for my mistake.
“This year, due to an incident in the race.
“We know that there are 38 races left and the championship is very long.
“I was hoping to be more (consistent). Not having zero points in the second race.”
Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, MotoGP race, Portuguese MotoGP March 24
Reigning MotoGP champion and official Ducati rider Bagnaia was forced to watch his title rival Jorge Martín win the Portimao race.
Martin now leads the MotoGP championship with a three-week break until the third round.
Bagnaia summed up a bad Sunday: “I was confident before the start. My feeling was good. I felt better with the grip.
“I was thinking about attacking and having good control of my tires.
“But as soon as I started, I found myself in trouble. I expected to be fast. The guys in front were too fast for me.
“I tried to avoid everything and manage the tires. It was difficult.
“When Pedro Acosta arrived, he was too fast.
“He was going at a fast pace, a lot of speed, a lot of sliding.”
Bagnaia detailed his difficulties: “I was fighting behind the guys in front to close the line with the same amount of grip.
“They were very fast in Turn 5. I was winning elsewhere. But in turn 4 they gained two tenths in each acceleration. And in turn 5 I lost two tenths on each lap.
“It was difficult to understand. I tried to have different lines, I tried to have the same speed in the corners as them. But he always went too far.
“We have to understand that.”
Worryingly, it suffered from the same vibration issues that have predominantly plagued Martin’s Ducati this year.
“Today I spoke,” Bagnaia said. “He started on lap 7. We weren’t expecting it.”
Bagnaia is fourth in the standings after two rounds, two points behind teammate Enea Bastianini, five behind Brad Binder and 23 behind leader Martin.