Dani Pedrosa suffered his first race crash of the season in the Malaysian Grand Prix, having started from second on the grid.

The World Champion and current series leader unexpectedly went down on the second lap without even trying to push the pace set by Stoner and De Angelis at the front. Dani, who had scored points in every race since Jerez last year, escaped injury and remains leader of the series with a 38-point gap over Stoner, who won the race Malaysia.

Hiroshi Aoyama, starting from pole position, was riding without the same level of confidence he had found with the bike during practice and was right behind his team-mate when the crash happened. The Japanese rider lost contact with the Aprilia pair and focused on finishing as high as he possibly could. Hiro ended the race in fifth place and remains fourth in the championship, 10 points behind Andrea Dovizioso.

DANI PEDROSA (DNF): “It was an unexpected an unnecessary crash that I still can’t explain. I was riding carefully, allowing Stoner and De Angelis to set their pace because they were running fast and I still didn’t feel comfortable with the bike, which was sliding a lot. When I arrived at the corner I went in there as normal, let go of the brakes and when I went to open the gas I lost the front end and couldn’t hang on. I wasn’t pushing it at all. We had a carburetion problem and the bike was getting bogged down at the end of the two straights. We leave here without scoring points and the gap in the championship is reduced, but I’m confident that the bad luck will end here and we’ll be back at our best in Qatar. It’s a shame because this weekend had got gradually better after a few days of rest, but it is my fourth crash in just over a week and we have made another mistake.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (5^th): “There wasn’t much grip on the track, the temperature of the bike rose and the engine wasn’t as strong as it had been in practice. I saw Dani crash in front of me and it scared me a little because I wasn’t comfortable either. I decided not to push too hard and just finish in the best possible position.”

CLASSIFICATION

1. C. Stoner (Aus/Apri)  43’23”138
2. A. De Angelis (RSM/Ap) + 3”133
3. S. Porto (Arg/Apri)  + 4”111
4. R. De Puniet (Fra/Apri) + 7”569
5. H. Aoyama (Jap/Hon) + 10”109

250cc WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Dani Pedrosa 226 points
2. Casey Stoner 188 points
3. Andrea Dovizioso 144 points
4. Hiroshi Aoyama 134 points
5. Alex De Angelis 129 points