Misfiring Pedrosa 'lucky' to get third

The stranded Spaniard had to ride back to the pits on the rear of Toni Elias' Gresini Honda after the problem. Pedrosa was not certain if his bike had simply run out of fuel, or if there was a larger issue.

"From the beginning I had some kind of misfire in a couple of corners," he said, "and at the end I think I was very lucky because my bike just stopped on the in-lap.

"I don't know if it's the fuel or something else, but anyway I was lucky to get the third position and finish the race."

Pedrosa had burst into the lead briefly at the start, but was unable to hold off the Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite his misfire, the Honda rider reckoned his rivals had the edge on pace anyway, especially as the tyres wore in the second half of the grand prix.

"I did my maximum in the race," said Pedrosa. "I tried my all, and I tried to stay with them in the beginning of the race, but from the middle of the race I was going slower and they were just going faster.

"They were braking better and cornering better. So I couldn't stay with them."