Grapevine: Pedrosa walks out on the press

HRC president Takeo Fukui and manager director Satoru Horiike are both attending this weekend's race, and there has been speculation that their visit has been prompted by Pedrosa being unwilling to sign a new contract with Honda. His present deal expires at the end of 2007, and the Spaniard admitted earlier this week that he would consider offers from other teams.

Asked if he was worried about the situation at Honda, Pedrosa answered, "No, I'm only worried about the race tomorrow."

However, when asked to confirm if he had received the schedule of updates for the Honda RC 212V that Horiike had pledged to present to the riders this weekend, he said in Spanish, "sois unos pesados" which translates as "you guys are tiresome."

It was at that point that Pedrosa stood up and walked out of the briefing.

Repsol Honda have not won a race since last year's US GP, and although Pedrosa is still third in this year's championship, he is now 59 points behind leader Casey Stoner.