Rossi blames Bautista for Mugello crash

...but Bautista says it was no-one's fault

VALENTINO Rossi has put the blame for his crash at Mugello firmly on Alvaro Bautista's shoulders.

Rossi and Bautista both ended up in the crash barriers just three corners into the first lap of Sunday's MotoGP race.

Mugello is Rossi's home race and also Bautista's team, GO&FUN Honda Gresini's home race, rubbing salt in the wounds for both riders.

After the crash, Bautista took a neutral view, saying: "Unfortunately, in Turn 3 I made contact with Valentino and we both crashed out of a race that was very important for both of us. Valentino and I have watched the incident back together in Race Direction and it was just a racing incident that leaves us both with a bitter taste in the mouth, but neither of us is to blame. I was on the inside and it is very difficult to see a rider on the outside from there. He was taking a slightly different line and that's why we came together. It's a shame because I felt good on the bike and it's a positive result. These things happen but we have to forget about it and try to think about the next race.”

However Rossi wasn't quite as philosophical as Bautista, saying: “Unfortunately in the start I had a problem with the clutch spinning and I lost two or three positions. Then I was attacking because we had a good pace and I was fast. On the second corner I was on the outside already in front of Bautista. For me, from the inside he opened the throttle to close the line so he doesn't lose another position but I was already in front so he came to me and took me on the boot. I was lucky because it was a bad crash and I arrived at the wall but I’m ok. We will try next week in Barcelona, but it is a pity because firstly it is Mugello and secondly I think we could have done a good race and maybe arrived on the podium.”

You can watch the Rossi and Bautista Mugello crash video here