Dani Pedrosa surprised by Turn 4 crash at Brno

Having ended his pole drought on the Masaryk circuit - and been an irresistible force in practice - Pedrosa was a strong favourite in the race, even after letting his lead slip away from the start line.

He moved back to the front of the field on lap two when erstwhile leader Jorge Lorenzo had a major slide exiting Turn 1, but barely two corners later Pedrosa's weekend ended as he lost the front-end of his Honda on the right-handed Turn 4.

"It was a shame, I lost the front and I crashed, and that was it," Pedrosa reflected.

"I was not even pushing so hard, and I just took the lead...well, I may have tilted the bike too much, maybe the tyre was not warm enough, still I don't know.

"The problem is that I've wasted an important race that we had prepared for very well. I have to thank the team for the bike they gave me this weekend and I will tell them I'm sorry for the mistake.

"It hurts because we were well prepared, but we can not do anything - just think towards the next one and try to get back on top."