Dani Pedrosa admits he's still not fully fit after Laguna Seca slump

Pedrosa was early leader Jorge Lorenzo's closest rival at first, before losing touch with the Yamaha and being passed by his Honda team-mate Casey Stoner, who went on to beat Lorezo to victory.

But though he had to settle for third, Pedrosa said the result was better than he had expected from Laguna Seca given the track's challenging nature and his current physical state.

"I'm very happy with another podium, the second after my comeback from injury," he said. "I couldn't have predicted this result before coming to Laguna because I knew it would be physically very tough for me and it has been great to keep up with the pace of Casey and Jorge in these past two races."

He admitted that the second half of the grand prix had been extremely tough for him.

"Today, by the middle of the race, I was very tired, almost finished, I couldn't get my left arm strong enough and here at this track you don't rest for a moment, so I had to drop," Pedrosa conceded.

"It's been quite difficult to set up the bike this weekend, I had a lack of grip generally, but the team worked very well."

The Spaniard is confident that he will at full strength again when the championship resumes for the Czech GP in three weeks' time.

"Now we have some holidays and it will be good for me to have some days off to rest and relax my muscles and be back training to arrive fully fit in Brno," Pedrosa said.