Marc Marquez had forecast the need to "gamble" on Sunday, but he was angry with his execution after crashing twice at a flag-to-flag French Grand Prix he briefly led.
The Repsol Honda superstar was hoping for a wet race to give him the best chance of a first victory since his injury at Le Mans.
The looming dark clouds delivered early in Sunday's race and Marquez, starting from sixth on the grid, stormed into contention.
Aiming for a fourth French GP win – only he and Valentino Rossi have three MotoGP™ victories – Marquez emerged from the pit lane in the lead after switching bikes.
That advantage did not last long as a dramatic fall saw the Spaniard flip through the air after flying off the slippery surface.
Yet that was not the crash that upset Marquez, who continued the grand prix and had recovered to reach 11th when he skidded off the track a second time and was ruled out.
"In the rain, I had a better chance of having a good race, but also of crashing," he told Sky Sport. "In the dry, I saw that there was a limit, but after the flag-to-flag I felt good.
"In the first crash, the bike slid a lot. Even with the medium tyre, at the beginning, I had to be a bit calmer, but it can happen.
"Then I got back on the bike and I was running very fast. The second fall is the one that angers me most.
"The first could happen because it was wet, I was warming the tyres... it happened to many riders.
"The second makes me angry because I was pushing too hard even though I was struggling to stay 100 per cent focused on the bike. At that point, I was thinking more about getting back in to put on the dry tyres than about riding.
"That's why it made me angry. There is a risk and I need to manage it better."
— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) May 16, 2021
Although Marquez shouldered his fair share of blame, he was disenchanted with the performance of his Repsol Honda bike.
He said: "If it is a step back, what can be used to take the races more calmly? If we look at the Honda crashes, it's not just me. All our bikes have crashed.
"We're working on it. It is true that I crashed twice in Jerez, though.
"Here, due to the conditions we had, we had a good weekend, but today was not a good Sunday. Today I was not good, I didn't risk when I had to risk and I risked too much when I didn't have to."
Marquez was not the only former champion to make a costly mistake, with 2020 title-winner Joan Mir unable to finish after his own crash.
The Suzuki Ecstar rider went down approaching the pit lane and then dashed towards his second bike on foot when the damaged first would not restart.
The failure to enter the pit lane with his machine meant Mir was not allowed to continue.
"I don't know what happened honestly," he said. "For my part, I have to say sorry to the team because I made a mistake.
"I saw that the bike was not running and I started to run to the box. I knew I had to come with the bike, but the bike was a bit damaged and I started to run.
"I don't know why, the adrenaline or something. But from this experience I will learn for the future, I will not repeat it, that's for sure."
Victory instead went to Jack Miller for the second race running, his tally of MotoGP™ wins swelling from one through 102 grands prix to three through 104.
Miller ran off into the gravel at one stage and later had to serve a double long-lap penalty, but he has back-to-back wins for just the second time in all categories, having also achieved the feat in Moto3 in 2014.
"That was hectic, very hectic," he said, adding: "It's absolutely amazing. I can't believe it.
"Back-to-back wins like this are just fantastic and I can't thank the team enough. They're awesome."
