Melandri apologises for Barros take-out.

Movistar Honda rider Marco Melandri has apologised to Honda Pons rider Alex Barros after taking out the front row qualifier at the end of the first lap of Sunday's US Grand Prix.

"We were just in the early stages of the race when Melandri bumped into me and made me crash. I even left space for him to get into the (last) corner, but he hit me anyway," sighed Barros, who was fighting his way back after a poor start. "It's not something to do after just one lap of the race. It's a shame, I'm so disappointed, because this was a race that I felt I could win."

Melandri would later explain that he lost the front of his RCV after being 'brake checked' by the lead group ahead of him. It was Melandri's third fall of the weekend.

"The lead group were really close together in the final corner of the first lap and they braked really hard in front of me. I also had to shut off and lost the front. I crashed and I'm sorry for taking Alex Barros down too," he said. "It's a shame it ended that way because in the warm-up I felt much better on the bike and my objective was to finish the weekend off in the best way possible."

Despite the DNF, Melandri's first of the 2005 season, he has retained second in the world championship heading to the British Grand Prix in two weeks time.