German MotoGP reaction: Valentino Rossi: 'I made a mistake, I'm sorry'

Valentino Rossi had admitted he “made a mistake” following his uncharacteristic crash out of the German MotoGP on Sunday.

The seven-time world champion was battling to get past Randy de Puniet in the early laps of the Sachsenring race, up to sixth from ninth on the opening lap, when he slid off at a tight-right hander following an audacious pass.

It appeared that he simply ran off the edge of the tyres as he took a tighter line mid-corner than de Puniet.

The Fiat Yamaha rider speared off the track into the gravel in front of more than 100,000 at the circuit and millions watching on television around the world. A bent handlebar meant the bike could not be ridden.

His weekend is one he will want to forget after suffering from a fever and he later apologised for his performance.

Rossi said afterwards: “Unfortunately I made a mistake and I want to say sorry to everyone – my team, Yamaha and of course all my fans. I lost some places at the start and had to wait a lap before I could start to push, but everything was feeling very good.

 “Getting past de Puniet was hard because in the part of the track where it’s best to overtake he was very fast. Finally I made my move and I made a great pass but I made a mistake and lost the front.”

There was some damage limitation for the Italian as rival Casey Stoner only managed fifth on his Marlboro Ducati.

And with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa taking the win, Rossi remains second 32 points behind Stoner.

He added: “Luckily Stoner was only fifth so the points situation is not as bad as it could have been. I’m very glad we only have seven days until the next race because right now I’m feeling quite bad, but very determined for America.”