Pedrosa: Honda are closing on Yamaha

The Spaniard, who has gradually gained pace since switching to Bridgestone tyres following Misano, led the first half of the Malaysian Grand Prix but ultimately had to settle for second behind Rossi.

But Pedrosa was encouraged by his speed relative to the champion's Yamaha.

"At the end Rossi was faster than me," he admitted. "Usually at the end he puts on pressure and it's difficult to follow him, but we were closer this time.

"So I'm happy that we can reverse it with the new bike. We are getting faster every race, which was important, so if we can get closer at the next race this means we are going in a good way."

He was particularly pleased with second place given that he had been off the pace at the start of the weekend.

"In first practice I was 17th I think, so I started from the back and then came back to the top with pole position yesterday," said Pedrosa.

"So finally the result this weekend was good for me and my team. We made a step after the crash in Phillip Island, where I hurt my knee."

The season concludes with Pedrosa's home race at Valencia next weekend. He dominated the event last year and is keen to repeat that result.

"It's a special place. All my people are there so I'm happy to go to Valencia," said Pedrosa. "I hope the track is full of people and we can have a good race there."