Dani Pedrosa admits his surprise at winning the German Grand Prix

The Spaniard missed three races earlier this year after having surgery on his right collarbone and said after qualifying that he was still feeling weak on the bike.

But after outdragging Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha to take the lead out of the last corner with nine laps to go, he was able to pull away to take his second win of 2011 and the 14th of his MotoGP career.

"This is an unbelievable feeling," he said. "To come back so soon and win so soon is unbelievable and I'm very happy.

"Even with the front row yesterday I was so happy, but I didn't expect this."

Pedrosa said that he had felt progressively better on the bike as the race wore on and reiterated his post-qualifying point that the succession of left-handers at the Sachsenring circuit had been less problematic for his collarbone than previous tracks.

"I wasn't feeling perfect with the bike but as the race went on I was feeling better and had a better rhythm," he added.

"I knew I would suffer less here than Mugello because it's more lefts but still I was suffering a lot physically by the end. I'm really satisfied with the victory and I want to thank everyone who's been with me during this hard time."

Pedrosa's win took him up from seventh in the championship to fifth - just four points behind Valentino Rossi.