"I don't think I could have been more careful over those opening laps. I'm so disappointed that such a small thing can ruin an entire weekend."
Casey Stoner's hopes of a third MotoGP victory in a row ended after less than a lap at Sepang - the Ducati Marlboro star crashing from third at the final hairpin.
“I'm bitterly disappointed with this weekend," said Stoner. "Going into that race we were confident of a good result. We knew we would be at the front challenging for the win and watching the race confirmed that. I know I had the pace to be up there.
"On the first lap I was calm, I made up some positions in the first two corners and when I got behind Dovizioso and Lorenzo I was happy to stay there and let the tyres get up to temperature.
"Unfortunately I crashed because they weren't warm enough but I don't think I could have been more careful over those opening laps. I'm so disappointed that such a small thing can ruin an entire weekend.”
Team-mate Nicky Hayden finished sixth.
"I got a decent start but I was struggling for feel under braking, I don't know why," he said. "It has been a strong point for us all weekend but in the race I had no feeling from the front tyre from the first corner and couldn't brake how I wanted.
"It made life difficult, especially when it came to battling with other riders. Sixth isn't a terrible result but we thought we could put up a stronger fight here. Now we have a couple of days to regroup and hopefully come back stronger at Phillip Island.”
Phillip Island is Stoner's home round.
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