MotoGP titl🔴e contender Dani Pedrosa is oꩵut of the San Marino Grand Prix after a series of incidents ended with the pole sitter being taken out on the opening lap at Misano.

All was going normally until Karel Abraham stalled his Ducati j⭕ust moments before the red lights went out for the planned start - causing several riders to leave their grid places before spotting the stoppa💝ge.

Pedrosa's Repsol Honda team then🌊 struggled to remove the front tyre warmer for the restart - it is unclear if this was the symptom or cause of a locked front wheel - forcing Pedrosa's bike to be wheeled off the gri🔯d.

Although the tyre warmer/locked wheel then released, allowing Pedrosa's RC213V to be wheeled back in time to re-join the sighting lap, Pedrosa was still trying🌸 to fix some kind of problem as he rode to the grid.

For❀ced to start in last place, Pedrosa made swift progress through the initial turns - only to have his﷽ back wheel struck by Hector Barbera at the apex of a left hander, at the end of the first back straight, launching Pedrosa into a highside and his first non-score of the year.

Pramac Ducati rider Barbera was starting his fi💦rst race since a training injury i𝄹n July.

Pedrosa was seeking his third win in a row and had closed to within 13 point of Jorge Lorenzo, who n🦄ow lea🐼ds the race from Valentino Rossi and Stefan Bradl.

💎Cal Crutchlow, who qualified on the front row, crashed out on lap 5.