Rossi apologises for first lap crash

The Italian fell and then collected Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda at the start of today's Dutch TT, before rejoining to take 11th.

The result saw Rossi lose the championship lead to Dani Pedrosa, whose second place puts him four points ahead in the standings.

"It's a shame. I also want to apologise to de Puniet because it was my mistake," Rossi told Italia1 television.

"When I turned left the tyre was still cold and I lost it and I caught him with me. I made a mistake. Unfortunately we have this chronic problem at the start when I never manage to have a good getaway, after which I made a mistake.

"A mistake after seven consecutive podiums is acceptable. We lost the lead in the standings but we are still close to Pedrosa."

Rossi also took comfort from his race pace, as he regularly matched the leaders' lap times despite his Yamaha being damaged in the accident, with much of the gear-pedal destroyed.

"I was so pissed off that I was changing gears with my nervousness," he said.

"I don't know, I didn't even look at it, but I managed somehow. On top of that my handlebar was completely bent, giving me trouble when changing direction.

"Despite that I did the third best lap of the race, we weren't far off. This morning we made a modification that allowed me to ride a lot better, with the front much more under control. So it's a double shame, because my pace was good, I could do 1:36s too, so I was the only one who could threaten (Casey) Stoner.

"It's a shame because we had the potential, we were up there, I was quicker than at Donington and I felt better with the bike. In fact at the end I was going quick even with a bent bike.

"For sure today I would have been able to go quicker than Dani, so it's positive that our closest rival can't go as quick as us."

Stoner's dominant win today closed him to within 25 points of Rossi, and the multiple champion believes the Assen result has set up a three-way head-to-head for the second half of the season.

"We'll see in Germany, with a track where Pedrosa has always gone very quick," Rossi said. "Stoner is in shape, he's found out how to use his bike at its best, and they've solved the problems they had at the beginning, so it will be a very good season.

"As for the standings, Pedrosa is the one leading with the most points. These two races Stoner has gone really really quick so it's hard to say.

"We are halfway through the championship, so we must work well in this second part of the season, where last year we had some problems. But with the Bridgestones I think we can be quick at all times.

"When Stoner is well sorted he can be faster than Pedrosa, he's going very quick. I don't want to say more about one compared to the other because usually when you do that the opposite thing happens. So it's 50-50."