Guintoli upbeat despite fading

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider was fastest of all in Friday practice, qualified 10th, and then ran ninth early in the race before the tyres faded.

"I've never fought so hard," said Guintoli. "The first half of the race was very good, and I got the ninth best lap time in the race.

"I think I'm only 0.6 seconds from the best lap of (works Yamaha rider) Valentino (Rossi), so it's good."

Dunlop has struggled for pace on longer runs all season, and Guintoli admitted that he was not surprised when the tyres wilted in the GP - although he had expected worse.

"I was pushing and pushing really hard for them not to catch me, but I lost a lot of grip on the edge on the left, and lost time on acceleration and traction on the rear," he said.

"But it's been better than I thought, and I fought hard - I really, really fought bloody hard."

Guintoli ultimately finished 43 seconds behind the leaders in 13th, but said the disappointing finish did not lessen his satisfaction with the Czech weekend.

"The weekend has been brilliant," he said. "Friday was very good, and the qualifying was very good as well. With the ideal lap I would have been fifth but I had a slower T1, so it was a good qualifying.

"I think it's been my best weekend, consistent and no mistakes."