Pedrosa: Maybe I wasn't fully concentrating...

Dani Pedrosa was just one lap away from completing the best performance of his young MotoGP career - having stormed from a lowly 16th place on the grid to lead the Turkish Grand Prix for five laps, only to fall while fighting for victory.

Battling with eventual winner Marco Melandri and second-place man Casey Stoner, Pedrosa started the last lap in third place, just a fraction behind the his fellow RCV riders, but lost the front end of his Repsol Honda in the downhill turn one - the scene of many of his overtaking manoeuvres. The 20-year-old remounted to finish 14th.

Pedrosa's mistake allowed team-mate Nicky Hayden to take the final podium position but - in contrast to Pedrosa, who was still just 13th at the end of lap one - Melandri, Stoner and Hayden were already in the top six on the opening lap.

"Until the last lap I think the race was good. I got a good start and recovered a lot of positions at the beginning. Then I got into a very good rhythm and I was able to overtake riders and catch the leaders, which was the main plan before the race," explained Dani, who showed no signs of physical fatigue.

"Near the end it was difficult because I lost some time and there was a little gap to the leaders so I was not completely with them. Then I crashed as I was entering the first corner - maybe I had a little movement at the back of the bike - and then I lost the front end. Fortunately I was able to pick the bike up and finish in 14th place, so at least I got two points.

"I'm sorry for my team because they were really good for the whole weekend and maybe I was not fully concentrating on the job because two mistakes and two crashes - this is a lot for me," confessed Pedrosa, who also fell during free practice.

"Dani showed amazing overtaking skill to go from his starting grid position to lead the race for a time," declared team manager Makoto Tanaka. "But the machine set-up wasn't perfect and the front began to tuck. Unfortunately, finally, he fell. It was very disappointing but he showed good professional spirit by restarting and taking two points."