Dani Pedrosa determined to keep momentum after breakthrough German Grand Prix win

The Spaniard had not won since Motegi in 2011 before his triumph in Germany, which moved him up to second in the championship, 14 points behind Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

While Pedrosa said the win came as something of a relief, he insisted the target was to maintain such momentum, particularly given how close this year's championship has proved so far.

"The first win in Sachsenring has been great for me and my team, we are closer in the championship on points, but one win will not give us the title. I've kept cool without winning and we will not relax now because we have the first one," he said.

"This season you have to be almost perfect in every race to get a win, so we will keep pushing hard. I'm really looking forward to getting to Mugello and try to keep this momentum at a circuit that I love."

Pedrosa said taking advantage of Honda's engine power and torque would be crucial to its hopes at Mugello. Honda has won just once at the Italian venue in the last eight years - Pedrosa triumphing in 2010 - while Yamaha has racked up six in the same space of time.

"Mugello is a completely different track, it's important to have a very fast bike in these corners and to get our strong points out in the track, we must take profit of the power of our Honda engine," he said.

"It's a very demanding track physically; last year I got there very weak due to the injury and I couldn't manage a good race, but we had a nice win in 2010 and I feel good now and ready to enjoy riding there again."

Team-mate Casey Stoner meanwhile said he hoped Honda had learned its lessons from last year, when he finished third, as he bids to respond to his Sachsenring disappointment.

"I've always liked Mugello, we've enjoyed some pretty good results there. Last year didn't go to plan but we know what we did wrong so hopefully this year we can be a little more competitive," he explained.

"After a disappointing race in Sachsenring, I want to get back on the bike and take some points back in the championship."