Downbeat Yamaha's podium run ends

The podium streak, which stretches back to Valencia 2007, was halted when Ducati's Nicky Hayden mugged championship leader Lorenzo for third on the final lap of today's race.

"My start was very good, but during the race I struggled a lot with Nicky always behind me, very close," said Lorenzo.

"We can't be happy with the result and I am disappointed to finish my podium run, but the most important thing is that we did finish and we still took points for our championship.

"We have five more races to go and, although this is a complicated moment for us and we have some things to address, I am confident that we can improve again.

"Now we go to Motegi and I am looking forward to a good result at the home of Yamaha."

Multiple world champion Rossi endured one of the most disappointing races of his distinguished career.

The Italian is still suffering with the effects of the shoulder injury he sustained in a Motocross crash in April and struggled to find a good set-up with his bike throughout the weekend.

He made a good start from eighth on the grid, but lacked pace and fell back as low as ninth at one stage. Rossi climbed back to seventh, before a last-lap crash by Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso promoted the Italian into the top six.

"This was a very difficult race for us; we had a lot of problems all weekend and I was very slow today," said Rossi. "I had to try to get to the end but I couldn't do better than sixth.

"All the Yamahas have suffered here but my shoulder problems made it even worse for me and this, combined with the problems with our package at this track, made it extra hard. We're very sad this afternoon and we hope for better in Japan."