Stoner apologises for mistake

The Australian, who had won three out of four races heading into Estoril, had just caught leading Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo when he fell at the final corner on the fifth lap.

"There is not much to say today, other than it's a shame, obviously," said Stoner.

"I was taking it steady over the first couple of laps getting the tyres up to temperature and then I was able to push a little harder to close the gap to the guys in front of me.

"When I got on the back of Jorge I wasn't pushing as hard as I had on the previous laps but I ran a little off line and lost the front. I tried to save it but I wasn't able to and I am really sorry to all the guys in the team because they have done a good job in difficult conditions to find a good set-up. We will try and make up for it in Valencia."

His team-mate Nicky Hayden finished fifth after a long battle with Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli. But having qualified second, Hayden felt he should have delivered a better result.

"Fifth place alongside a crash for Casey isn't a brilliant result for the team - it has been a tough weekend on everybody but we will try to do better at Valencia," the American said.

With everyone relying on guesswork for set-ups in the dry race as every other session this weekend had been wet, Hayden admitted he had lost confidence and crucial ground mid-race.

"Today was the first time in my career that I have gone out to race in the dry without completing a single lap in those conditions before lining up on the grid," he said.

"Over the first few laps the bike worked really well, I felt good and I even managed to lead the race which hasn't happened for a while.

"In the middle part of the race I had a couple of moments on damp patches and lost my feeling a little. I got my rhythm back together towards the end and joined in the fight for the podium."