Pedrosa says rain has helped him conserve his fitness for Italian Grand Prix

The Honda rider will start eighth for his first race back in MotoGP since he broke his collarbone in a collision with Marco Simoncelli at Le Mans six weeks ago.

He underlined before the weekend that the second operation required for complications in the healing process was still recent, and that he would not be at maximum strength this weekend.

But with rain affecting both Friday afternoon practice and today's qualifying session, Pedrosa has been able to limit his running.

"I was pretty lucky because the session was only 30 minutes old when the rain arrived and this is good for my injury," he said after qualifying.

"I made a few nice laps at the beginning of the session and I'm impressed with my lap time, eighth place on the grid is very good given my physical condition."

Pedrosa is open minded about what he will be able to achieve in the race, acknowledging that his fitness was a work in progress this weekend.

"I know that in the race it will be hard but I will try my best," he said. "I'll try the maximum during the 23 laps, 100 per cent in my situation, and we will see how much I can achieve.

"This morning I felt better because I had a good rest last night, but for sure lap by lap the shoulder is getting more and more sore and this afternoon it's been harder. I want to save energy during the warm up tomorrow morning to try to give the rest in the race."