Pedrosa draws positives despite crash

The Spaniard led the field from pole and immediately set some blistering laps but dropped his Honda on lap four, before rejoining the race last with bike damage and salvaging a distant 10th place.

The crash, however, came after Pedrosa dominated every other session except for the warm-up, in which he was pushed down to second at the end. The good performance gave Pedrosa reason to be confident with the upcoming events.

"This result was a real shame, but sometimes it happens," he said. "We did a great job all through practice and qualifying, I was confident for the race and of course I was hoping to win today.

"I was pushing very hard at the start of the race and perhaps I pushed too much. There was some cloud cover today and maybe the front tyre was a little cooler than before, but whatever the reason, I made a mistake and lost the front.

"Looking on the positive side, we've been very fast here and that means we can take a lot of confidence to Misano next weekend."

He added: "I'm sorry for the team because they've worked really hard for me, and also to the fans who've given me great support. I wanted to win in America again but it wasn't to be.

"There was some damage to the bike - the handlebar was bent inwards and the footpeg was worn away quite badly, but actually I was able to recover and ride at a fast pace to take some points at the end."