Dani Pedrosa said that he survived a heart-stopping moment on his way to second place in the Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona.
The Honda rider made a terrific start from the second row to grab the lead into the first corner, but ran wide and dropped back to 11th after arriving at the turn with cold brakes.
"The start went really well and I was leading," the Spaniard said. "Then at the end of the straight I had a big shaking at the front. I went to brake and there were no brakes. My heart was out. I started to really pump the front brake and finally it got the bike in. I was off the track so I had to take it slowly to avoid getting a penalty. Then I could recover some places."
After making it back up to fifth place by the end of the opening lap, Pedrosa passed Casey Stoner's Ducati when the 2007 World Champion himself went off at turn one, and then overtook Randy de Puniet for what became second when his teammate Andrea Dovizioso crashed.
"I was having front tire problems and with me and Casey racing together for a lot of laps, I thought he might try something. Second is not bad after what happened at the start."
Pedrosa's result ensured that he retained his second place in the World Championship, but an increased 52-point margin behind Lorenzo.