'Sorry' de Angelis slated for Misano carnage.

Alex de Angelis experienced the wrath of Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards after bringing the two Americans down in a clumsy turn two clash at his home San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday.

Carrying speed around the outside of the right-hand first turn, de Angelis then slammed into the side of Edwards as the field formed a bottleneck for the left-hand second turn.

Edwards knocked into the back wheel of title contender Jorge Lorenzo as he fell, before Hayden was dragged from his Ducati and Randy de Puniet was forced off track.

The accident marked the first time that de Angelis and Edwards had failed to finish a race this year, and cost Edwards fifth place in the world championship to Andrea Dovizioso.

"I thought I had the pace to easily be fourth and maybe fight with Pedrosa for a podium but we are in Italy and occasionally you have to deal with an Italian rider who wants to be a hero and today that was de Angelis," began Edwards.

"Turn one at the start with 17 bikes is not the place to be going at race pace and he was never going to make through there. Today de Angelis is the guy who needed to be wearing Valentino's donkey helmet.

"I didn't know what happened until I was sliding through the gravel. Turn one is the most dangerous time to crash with so many bikes around you, it is unacceptable.

"I've been fighting with Dovizioso in the championship most of the season and now he has ten points on me with four races to go... That's racing," concluded the Texan.

A furious Hayden made his feelings clear to de Angelis as the dust settled in the gravel trap, and was still seething after returning to the pits.

"It's easy to say it now but I just know I was set for a good race today so I'm extremely disappointed," said Hayden, who qualified sixth on the grid and had taken his first Ducati podium a week ago at Indy. "Maybe I wasn't going to win the race but I at least could have run with the front guys for a while and given all the Ducatisti to cheer for, as well as picking up some vital experience and data for this machine and having some fun myself.

"To be honest I had a feeling de Angelis might create some drama here. He's at home and fighting for his job and when I saw him in the corner of my eye I just tried to gas it and get out of his way. Unfortunately he slightly clipped my rear wheel and that was the last I knew about it.

"I know in racing people can make mistakes and I have done plenty in my life but I'm not happy with Alex because this wasn't racing - it was just stupid to try and pull a move like that on cold tyres, in the second corner on the first lap. Anyway, we're all okay and looking forward to Portugal," he concluded.

de Angelis, who had become the first ever rider from San Marino to stand on the premier-class podium with second at Indianapolis, apologised to both Edwards and Hayden for the incident.

"I got a decent start and thought I could make some more ground up on the inside in the second turn but I went in too deep," said the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider, who is currently without a 2010 ride. "Colin cut in front of me and I braked as hard as I could to avoid him but the front folded and I hit him. Unfortunately Nicky was hit as well and I apologise to both of them.

"Unfortunately these things happen in racing and I am desperately disappointed because this is my home race, there were a lot of people here supporting me and I wasn't able to deliver a good result. It is especially frustrating because we had the potential to put a really good race together here after another excellent weekend but we'll take the positives out of it and try to continue with our recent progress at Estoril."

The luckiest man involved was Lorenzo, who kept control despite the impact and went on to finish second behind Fiat Yamaha team-mate and world championship leader Valentino Rossi.

"After I was nearly brought down on the second corner I wanted to make sure I got the points in order to keep the championship alive," he said.

One rider who avoided contact, but lost a lot of time in the incident was LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet, who was forced through the gravel. The Frenchman rejoined 14th and last, gaining two positions by the end of the race.

"I am happy as I escaped unhurt from the crash," admitted Randy, who fractured his ankle during the summer break. "We expected a better result here and I was unlucky to be in the wrong place in the wrong moment."