PICS: Valentino Rossi crashes out in Australia

Valentino Rossi crashed out of his second MotoGP race in succession with this exit from Sunday's Australian Grand prix at Phillip Island (see below for full sequence).

The seven time MotoGP champion, who tangled with Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies on lap one in Japan, lost the front of his Ducati as he overtook Alvaro Bautista for fifth place on lap 14 of 27 'down under'.

"The crash was really a shame because I could have finished fifth," said Rossi, who had qualified 13th and began the race from 11th on the grid after the withdraw of Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies.

"After a pretty good start, I lost some ground to Nicky and Bautista, but then I found my rhythm and managed to get them both.

"Unfortunately, I lost the front when I passed Alvaro, and I'm really disappointed because I didn't expect it. Evidently, despite all our hard work, we still haven't solved this problem.

"Anyway, both in Japan and here, we could have collected some good points, and instead we leave with none. That said, we're still working, and we'll have a number of important things to try in the next tests."

The incident marked Rossi's third race crash of the year, although he remounted after falling - and taking down Casey Stoner - at Jerez.