De Puniet laments 'worst ever race'

The Frenchman had crashed in the warm-up and was a long way off the pace throughout the race.

"Today was the worst race in my life," he said.

"It's difficult for me to explain this bad day, which began with a bad crash during warm-up. I lacked feeling with the bike because of the usual problem with the front.

"Then it was difficult to stay up in these conditions. I came close to crashing at least two times a lap. I don't say anything. It was a horrible race."

Pramac's technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini felt de Puniet had been too cautious after his morning fall.

"Today's race was extremely difficult. Above all, for the weather conditions; the rain made things hard, and so did the asphalt temperature," he said.

"The fact remains that we can't be satisfied with our performance. Randy's race was too conservative, even if that's understandable after this morning's crash. He's coming off of five races in which he only finished one."

But Sterlacchini also acknowledged that Pramac was too far off the other Ducatis' pace at present - especially in the wet.

"We can't allow such big gaps, especially compared to the other Desmosedicis," he admitted. "We must try to get some ideas from [Nicky] Hayden and understand what's not right on our Ducati, even if it's clear that we're not the only ones having problems.

"It's also strange that when we work in extreme conditions, we're never able to do our best. We'll try to find a solution to these problems as soon as possible."