Dani Pedrosa committed motor racing`s most cardinal sin at Estoril on Sunday when he took out world championship leading team-mate Nicky Hayden in a moment of madness that could cost the American the 2006 MotoGP crown.

Hayden started the penultimate event of the season with a 12-point lead over reigning five-times champion Valentino Rossi, who converted pole position into an early race lead - while his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards dutifully held station in second.

By contrast, there was no such co-operation between Repsol Honda team-mates Pedrosa and Hayden - the cited reason being that fifth in the championship Pedrosa still had a slim mathematical chance of the title - but team orders is one thing, team destruction another.

Yet, exactly one lap after Hayden had squeezed inside Pedrosa for third, and with the 28 lap race less than seven-minutes old, the Spaniard - in a moment of utter madness - gambled Hayden and Honda`s entire world championship lead on an inexcusably optimistic attempt to retake the position, which he later blamed on a braking mistake.

The 2006 rookie of the year - previously renowned for his cool head - appeared to forget who pays his wages as he tried to make the panicky pass stick but, as Hayden turned in to the left hander, Dani already had nowhere to go, lost his front wheel and wiped them both out.

Hayden, who has finished every other race this season, desperately tried to rejoin, but the damage to his RCV was too great and the furious American was left punching the ground amidst screams of anger and abuse directed at Dani... but most would probably have punched Pedrosa, whose fumbled pass was one of the most costly team-mate-on-team-mate mistakes ever seen in world championship motorcycle racing.

"I don`t know what to say really - it just hurts," said a stunned Hayden. "I don`t expect Dani to pull over and let me by but I definitely didn`t expect him to do that. Everybody at Repsol Honda is feeling just as sick as I am. I hate it for myself, for the team, for Dani. You work your whole life for something and to be this close, then have it slip away from you, is tough. We`re professionals and Dani did come to my motorhome and talk to me afterwards and we shook hands."

Hayden:我真的不知道要说什么，只是感觉很受伤，我不期望Dani拉我一把放我过去，但是我也绝对没有期望他这样做，Repsol Honda的每一个人都像我一样感觉很难受。我恨啊，为我自己，为了车队，为了Dani。当你为了某样东西付出了你的全部精力全部生命努力工作，做到了这么的接近，突然间，就这样从指缝溜走。我们都是职业车手，Dani过来找我谈了，然后我们也握手了（意思是他原谅了少爷）。

"What can I say? I made a mistake and I`m really sorry," offered Pedrosa. "It`s the first time I`ve hit another rider in my career - it`s never happened before in practice or racing in six years and it`s happened at the worst moment that I could do it. Obviously I`m very unhappy and Nicky is not happy and I just want to apologise because I made a mistake. I said sorry to Nicky and I can understand that he is very upset – I wish I could change it. I didn`t want to pass him at that moment. I braked and my rear wheel came off the ground and then it touched the ground again, I got a little more speed. I couldn`t stop the bike and there was nowhere to go. I have a fracture in my little finger but we have time for it to be ok for Valencia."

Dani:我能说什么呢，我犯了个错误，真的很抱歉。这是我职业生涯第一次撞了另外一位车手，这样的情况在过去六年的练习和比赛中都从来没发生过，偏偏这样的事情去发生在最糟糕的时刻。显然我非常沮丧，同样Nicky也很不高兴，我只想为了我的失误道歉。我对Nicky说了对不起，我非常明白他很伤心，我希望我能改变这样的状况。那一刻我并不是想抄掉他。我刹车了,然后我的后轮离开了地面然后再一次回到地面，我的速度稍微快了点，我不能停下车子也没有别的位置可走。我的小手指骨折，但是我们还有时间在Valencia之前恢复。

The only `good` news for Hayden, Pedrosa and Honda is that Toni Elias deprived Rossi of the full 25 points on offer at Estoril - meaning that the Italian will take an eight, instead of 13-point, championship lead into the Valencia showdown in two week`s time.

That is still enough to allow Rossi to finish second and take the title, but if Hayden wins with another rider - such as Pedrosa - third, then Nicky and Honda could sensationally snatch the crown.

"I`ve proved this weekend that I wasn`t going to give up without a fight and even now I believe I`m pretty strong," insisted Nicky. "This was not one of my best tracks and I`ve come here and gone quick - I was fastest in one session, got on the front row and had a good race pace. I need Dani`s help now because anything could happen in Valencia, so I hope his hand`s ok. I told him there`s a way to make it up to me and that`s if we run one-two in Valencia then the championship`s still possible."

这个周末我已经证明了我不会毫无抗争就放弃，甚至直道现在我也相信自己的实力强劲。这不是我发挥最好的赛道，但是来到这里之后我的速度很快，在第一次自由练习中我是最快的，并且拿到了头排发车的位置，然后我的比赛节奏也很好。现在我需要Dani的帮助，因为在Valencia任何事还是有可能发生，所以我希望他的手的伤没问题，我告诉他补偿我的方法是我们在Valencia分别拿到冠亚军，这样的话我们的总冠军还是有可能。

Hayden falling at a crowded first corner, or suffering a mechanical failure, would have