Zoom Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa had a luckless race at Phillip Island, falling on the first lap.

The tumble was a bitter disappointment for the Spaniard who had been in confident mood after running an impressive race pace in practice and qualifying on the second row of the grid.

In tricky cool, sunny conditions Pedrosa got a good start, holding third place, then got sideways as the pack funnelled into the Southern Loop left-hander for the first time. He managed to regain control but ran wide and off the track at speed, falling heavily as he ran across the grass.

Pedrosa hurt his left knee in the crash. Despite the fall, the former 125 and 250 World Champion maintains his third position in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship with two rounds remaining.

“I got a good start and was entering the second corner in third position when the rear tyre started sliding. I tried to correct the bike but I ran off the track. On the grass I tried to correct the bike again but I crashed”, he explained. “I hurt my left knee in the fall. Fortunately I've not broken any bones or damaged any ligaments, but I've got a lot of pain and the knee is swollen. I am very disappointed because we knew we had a good race pace and I was very confident that I could score another podium, just like at Motegi last weekend. It was another bad race. I made a mistake and I am sorry for the team, they worked hard throughout the weekend. Tonight I will fly back to Spain and rest the injury while looking forward to the Malaysia GP. Now it's looking difficult for second place in the championship, there are only two races left.”

“Sometimes racing is like this, but I'm sorry for Dani because he had a good race pace”, commented team manager Kazuhiko Yamano. “He didn't have good grip at the start, he made a mistake and crashed. But Dani understands what happened, so I'm sure that he will be back even stronger in Malaysia and fight for a good result.”

© CAPSIS International