Edwards happy to overcome problems

His Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi fell early in the race, and Edwards said he came close to emulating the former champion.

"The first few laps were so tough," Edwards told BBC television.

"I almost crashed so many times on the front. It was almost like we had too much grip on the rear.

"I saw Valentino go down the road, and as soon as he crashed I thought 'that's what I've been feeling'.

"It all came good once the grip actually went down on the rear tyres, the lap times actually got better, as strange as that sounds.

"It was a difficult race. It was hot as hell out there."

Edwards made up several positions in the closing laps as Bridgestone runners Casey Stoner, John Hopkins and Marco Melandri lost tyre grip. The Yamaha rider was surprised by how quickly he caught the struggling bikes.

"I looked up and there were three of them in front of us and I thought 'hell, we're going to be on the podium here in a minute,'" he said.

Having struggled for speed for most of the weekend, Edwards paid tribute to his team and Michelin to helping him to find race pace.

"I want to thank Michelin and the Fiat Yamaha guys," he said.

"We've turned this bike up and down, side to side, and with a bit of help from Michelin we got it rolling.

"This is my best result that I've had here, so that's a bit of a high to leave here with a decent position and go to Laguna."