Dovizioso happy to be top Michelin man

The Italian, like all the Michelin-shod runners at Brno, could not match the pace of their Bridgestone rivals, and Dovizioso was the only one to be able to mix it in the top ten through the race.

In the end however even the JiR Scot Honda rider faded and finished just ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, on a Michelin-shod Yamaha.

"My goal for the race was to be the first Michelin rider home, which is what I have achieved, but things were too difficult to do better," he said. "I started fully motivated and wanting to give the maximum and exploit fully the material at our disposal, but today I cannot be satisfied with the result.

"I had difficulty with the front tyre and was forced to change my style of riding, which meant not being able to exploit my speed in the corners.

"I had to stop hard and fire the bike out of the corners, rather than have a smoother style. This difficulty penalised us in the race."

JiR Scot directior Gianluca Montiron paid tribute to Dovizioso afterwards, saying: "After this weekend we must give merit and praise for Andrea and the team's efforts for their hard work. Andrea has demonstrated once again his technical skills, and his ability to interpret, and adapt his style of riding to the package at his disposal."