Pramac rider Martin blamed poor Michelin tyres for a lacklustre Qatar MotoGP which conced🙈ed a 21-point advantage to title rival Francesco Bagnaia heading into the final round.

Michelin responded by vowing tꩵo investigate the state of the tyre allocated.

Sylvain Guintoli said via TNT Sports: “The rear grip ✨wasn’t right. It looked like he was struggling, he couldn’t extract his bike on the turns. 

“Look at❀ his [sprint race] there was a massive contr𝄹ast. Something went wrong.”

Neil Ho🤡dgson insisted: “I’ve got to say, ꩵI definitely think it’s a faulty tyre. 

“It’s a graphic example. It spins up - he’s the only one. The bike doesn’t turn - watch him throughout the race, ཧit doesn’t turn at all.

“That’s rearꦺ grip. It plays a huge part. Zero acceleration, bizarre, like he got the wrong mapping. That’s the tyre.&nꦜbsp;

“Occasionally it c♋an happen, you get a tyre that’s not quite the same as the other one. 

“It happens - it﷽’s just a shame it happened at ꦡthis stage of the season.”

Guintoli was asked to reply to any “conspiracy theory” that Martinꦐ was alloc🙈ated a faulty tyre by explaining the process.

He claimed: “The reality - and I’m n🐈ot saying yes or no - is that 🐽it’s highly unlikely [that a bad tyre was given to Martin]. 

“As soon as something goes wrꩲ🌄ong, the riders blame the tyres. 

“The way that the tyres are select💦ed for the race, every tyre is accounted for. They know exactly where th𓃲at tyre has been. 

“Every tyre cannot exceed a certain number of heat cycles. The teams know exactly wꦦhich tyres, and ౠhow many heat cycles. 

“This is to keep the best tyr🉐es for the races. It’s just so unlikely.”

Hodgson asked Guintoli: “If it wasn't the tyre, whಞat could it have been?”

Guintoli replied: “It could be a sensor problem. The electronics. Som♚ething like that. 

“Something gone♚ wrong with the ECU or the mapping. It’s hard to tell. It’s v🦩ery unlikely, but not impossible.”

Hodgson said: ꧙“You’ve got to trust the rider. He’s sat on the motorcycle and he has so much experience, he knows what a bad tyre feels like. He’s had them before. It does happen. It’s a mess!”